RVA Volume 4 Issue 8 Anything Can Happen by RVA MAGAZINE

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1 0 O bama Vi c t ory 1 4 Kev i n H en n ess ey 20 Aman da Wac h ob 26 H en ry / Val ent i n e C oll aborat i on 30 Noah S c ali n’s S kull - a- day 36 Pulp Ton es: Upgrade & Aft erli fe 38 Man Man 4 4 H ot Lava 50 Broken S oc i al S c en e 5 4 Th e Fest 7 58 Wei rd S c i en c e Mi x 59 Nath an Joyc e CD Rel eas e 62 W TF ? 64 In di an Su mmer 70 Don’t Eat O ff th e G ri ll 74 I’ve Been Dreaming Since I Woke Up Today Last month, we got the news that we had won 2 American Graphic Design Awards for 2008. Thank you to everyone that has supported us in the community. Thank you to my team on RVA who put everything into this project every month. We love what we do and these awards are just icing on the cake. -Tony

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Obama Victory: A Report From Grant Park Clifton Frei

Now, like most of the readers of RVA Magazine and the 249,999 or so other people in Chicago’s Grant Park that Tuesday night, I hate change. I also hate puppies. I love war, oil and rich folk, and I wrote in a vote for God’s chosen leader, George W. Bush. I long for the days when a restroom was a little on the lighter side if you know what I mean. Naw, I’m just joshin’ you, but let me tell you about one of the more amazing things I did feel in Grant Park Tuesday night: the absence of hate. Well, the drunk girl next to me shouted, “John McCain can eat my pussy,” but I think she was more drunk than malicious, and surprisingly much more the exception than the rule of behavior.

However, the thing about Cubs fans is that the majority of them seem to be frat-house refugees, uniformly white and with a tad too much disposable income. The thing about those gathered in Grant Park was that there was no one thing about them. I stood next to African-American, African-African, white, Hispanic, Philippino, European, gay, straight, male, female, children, teenagers, middle-aged and two elderly Belgian women. All at once.

I, and the rest of the 249,999 or so people in Grant Park, tend to think we’ll live that long.

If the 300,000 or so who marched on Washington in 1963 were on a mission as they overwhelmed the streets of a major metropolis, we were on our way to the after party. The late, late, late, late, late after party, but a party nonetheless. On downtown streets, normally flushed with a powerful feeling of anxiety, with suits power walking to meetings, eating Subway and drinking lattes, worrying about moving around little green pieces of paper that have value simply because we are all forced to agree that they do, thousands of people smiled and laughed and wore buttons and covered every square foot of concrete with light and hope and all the things that Christmas movies try to make us feel are possible. We were a large and surging, flesh and blood Christmas movie walking the same streets they used to film Batman. Christopher Nolan is going to have to shoot in Detroit now, because we went and ruined all the hopelessness.

I arrived at about 7 p.m. and was apprehensive because I was worried about what would happen if he lost. Having lived in Chicago for a little while now and experienced what Cubs fans do when they lose (damage property, brain cells and each other; paralyze Sox fans), I was looking for the fastest means of egress.

When we got there most of us gathered around three jumbotrons broadcasting jumbo-CNN, while only 65,000 or so were in the area where President-elect Barack Hussein Obama (goosebumps) would speak. As jumbo-Wolf Blitzer and jumbo-Anderson Cooper 360 announced state after state going

The people in Grant Park clapped – not ironically, but respectfully – during McCain’s concession speech. Like the silence felt after the bombs stopped falling on November 11th 1918, signaling the end of the Great War, the palpable lack of hate touched everyone of us and seemed to signal, well, something great. Scores of people will try to define that something in the coming months and years, but there won’t be any clear idea of what it was until I’m grey, if we get that far. If we don’t, and there are but a few ragtag resistance fighters huddled in caves, hiding from machines that look like Austrian bodybuilders, we will speak of November 4th 2008 as they used to speak of November 11th 1918, the last pause before we REALLY tried to kill everything.

to Obama, the crowd gave one raucous cheer after another, prompting me to send a mass text message, “Me, my girlfriend, Barack Obama, and all your liberal friends are in Grant Park. The mood is jubilant and peaceful. I’ve never felt anything like this before.” Sometime after 9 or so there was a bit of a lull. Many of the few thousand people in front of me sat down on the grass. It was like we were all on the straightaway of a roller coaster, waiting for the last mind-boggling dip. I was waiting for Virginia. A few days ago I talked with a friend of mine in Richmond, a gay black man, some of whose white friends said they were voting for McCain because they were “protecting Obama from being assassinated.” These strike me as the same kind of people who would say things like, “he’s a credit to his race,” “now I’m not prejudiced, but…,” and other such not-so-thinly veiled expressions of racism. This, coupled that with the fact that Virginia hadn’t voted for a Democratic president since a Kennedy lived to see his election day, is why I mailed my vote for Obama back home (as was my legal right, since I lived in Virginia for part of 2008), as opposed to registering here in Chicago. I have known many Virginians. I’ve had the opportunity to work with, befriend and love Virginians of all colors, creeds and income levels, and the quality of the people I meet never seems to match the perception of them. One-on-one we are all such good, caring, strong people, but as a whole we seem so intolerant and fearful. My hope was that we would come to our senses, that fearmongering and distrust would fail and that conservative Virginia would find a way to see beyond color and party lines. When jumbo-Wolf announced that Barack Obama had taken Virginia, thousands of people sitting in front of me leapt into the air at once. I screamed and my eyes became wet. Moments later we were all jumping up and down as though we were trying to move the earth because of the jumbo-words “Barack Obama elected President of the United States.”

Now, normally I’m a cynic. Normally I believe that true, positive change in our government can only come from a fundamental change in the capital driven, two-party system of competing elites. Normally. For 15 or 20 solid minutes we screamed and cheered and jumped. I kissed my girlfriend many times. The commentary from jumbo-CNN eventually reasserted itself as we quieted down, waiting for our new leader to address us. The crowd around my jumbotron began to get restless and noticed that the two other jumbotrons had already switched to a shot of the podium in the ticketed area where Obama would speak. As one we turned and began walking towards the closest of the other two mega-TVs. “Fuck CNN,” I said. I’m not sure how may of you have participated in a stampede before, but there is usually a moment before everyone starts running when everyone is thinking, “Should I start running?” and wondering if they personally will be the cause of the stampede and thus responsible for the trampling of little children. This moment was entirely bypassed by a general feeling of, yaaay!!!! and we just ran. I ended up next to the aforementioned elderly Belgian ladies who were being interviewed by Belgian TV reporters. They were quiet, but expressive, and seemed close to tears. We were all a little overwhelmed, listening to the public address speakers sing, “Here I am, signed, sealed, delivered, I’m yours,” and as cliché as it sounds, we all truly felt that he was ours when President–elect Barack Hussein Obama walked to the podium. Later my girlfriend, Christy, and I would reveal that we both had the same horrible image play in our heads when he first stepped out, a vision of a bullet going through his head. As he spoke, however, we found that fear was an emotion we were incapable of feeling. The crowd cheered. We cried a bit. We became as still as sons and daughters listening to Dad read us a bedtime story when our new President began to speak of the 106-year-old woman who voted today. As he led us through history we aged with the nation until we found ourselves in a frightening present with a shrinking future, but we were not afraid. We must have felt as those who heard John F. Kennedy tell them to not ask what your country can do for you. There was a bit of straightening up in the crowd; we all seemed to get taller. Some shouted, but most spoke the words in somber tones of responsibility and faith: “Yes we can.”

Generally I feel a bit dirty when someone says God Bless America. It is such a smug and close-minded thing to say. It reminds me of Bob Dylan singing through wars by way of identifying who “had God on their side.” So imperial, so manipulative. I’m also very aware of the mob mentality and it’s power to supersede rational thought and implant emotions that aren’t truly felt by an individual. However, Barack Obama was not a preacher that night, nor was he an insurgent. I can’t really describe it, but it was a prayer that wasn’t religious; it was patriotic yet global, jubilant yet reserved, understanding of the very earthbound responsibility we have for our own fate and cheered on by jubilant individuals, not a mindless horde. We poured out into the streets, an undulating mass of people as peaceful and calm as sleepy puppies, occasionally yelping in glee. Christy and I got on the train, and I put my arm around her as though we were relaxing on the couch at home. Walking home through the deserted streets of our quiet North Side Chicago neighborhood, there was a certain feeling in the air. It is best described as the polar opposite of what I felt after the last major transformative event, September 11th. The dread that was felt then was in equal proportion to the hope I felt Tuesday night. The air was cool and leaves rustled, and in the immortal words of Boston (the band), I think it was “more than a feeling.” Just before we left the park the Belgians interviewed us. This is more or less what I told them: “I am overwhelmed. My parents were born into a segregated Virginia, and now, to have elected an AfricanAmerican president, I can’t properly describe how I feel. Every day I wake up afraid. Afraid of global warming, afraid or war, afraid of the economy. This is the first time I haven’t been afraid in a long time.”

NY, RVA, And Finding Yourself Somewhere In Between An I n t e r v i ew wi t h Ke vi n H e nne sse y R . Anthony Har r is

Ke vin Hennessey, photo gr a p he r, is a n ind i v id ua l. His education at VCU and w o r k ing a s a lo w ly int e r n in Ne w Yor k has r efined his s e ns ib ilit ie s s o m e w ha t but no t taken the edge of f his w o r k . I g ue s s ha ng ing out with skate kids, dr unk s, t a t t o o e d p unk s, angels and assholes can de f ine a p e r s o n. I t c o m e s out in his wor k – a stylize d hum a nit y t ha t is hi s wo r ld b r ought into m ine. I a m int o it . So w e s a t d own in the bac k y ar d, and I a s k e d him a f e w q ue s tions. R . A nthon y Harris: What ye a r d id yo u g r a d u a t e , a nd w ha t did you get into a f t e r t ha t ? Ke vin H en nessey: It w as D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 7 . As s o o n as I got done – my gir lfriend li v e s o ut in N e w Yo r k – I sta r ted shooting em ails o ut t o a f e w p e o p le . I got in touc h with one guy a t Vic e m a g a z ine a nd we nt up ther e to get c of fee. We jus t s t a r t e d t a lk ing, a nd he br ought m e on b o a r d a s a n int e r n.

RA H : H o w is N e w Yo r k fo r a n a s p ir ing w o r k ing p ho t o g r a p he r ? K H : I t w a s a lo t o f f un, but I d o n’ t k no w ho w I f e e l a b o ut N e w Yo r k , b e c a us e e v e r y b o dy w a n t s t o b e t h e r e r ig ht no w ; it ’ s l ik e t he m o s t “ i n” t h in g r ig ht no w t o b e in N e w Yo r k C it y. Ty p ic a lly w he n s o m e t hing b e c o m e s t ha t p o p ula r I w a nt no t h in g t o d o w it h it . So I w o uld lov e t o b e t he r e , but yo u ha v e t o b a t t le e v e r yd ay w i t h a m illio n p e o p le fo r s t uf f t ha t yo u t a k e fo r g r a nt e d , yo u k no w, s im p l e p le a s ur e s. RA H : D o yo u f e e l yo u ha v e t o b e t he r e t o b e v a lid a t e d a s a p r o f e s s io na l, o r c a n yo u m a k e yo u r m a r k o ut s id e o f N e w Yo r k ? K H : I t hink t he im p r e s s io n t ha t a lo t o f p e o p le ha v e is t ha t yo u ha v e t o b e t he r e t o b e c o m e k no w n a nd t o b e s uc c e s s f ul a nd t o b e p a r t o f t ha t c o m -

m unit y o f a r t is t s. B ut yo u c a n b e anyw her e as long a s yo u p ut yo ur s e lf a r o u nd t he right people and s t ay p r o d uc t i v e . R AH : H o w d o yo u f e e l a b o ut your oppor tunities c o m ing b a c k t o R ic hm o n d ? KH : I f e e l lik e R ic hm o nd is jus t w aiting to be taken ov e r, a nd it ne e d s a lo t o f p eople to take that init ia t i v e a nd build up o n t his communit y of ar t is t s, b e c a us e a lo t o f p e o p le s lee p on it e ver yday. T he r e ’ s a lo t go ing o n, but I feel like it’s muc h ha r d e r he r e t o f ind a jo b w o r k ing for an a gen c y. T he r e ’ s a la c k o f c r e a t i v e jobs ar ound her e I g ue s s, unlik e N e w Yo r k , but t her e’s def initely just a s m uc h o p p o r t u ni t y. I t ’ s jus t a mat t er of doing it yo ur s e lf a nd no t jum p ing o nto s ome body els e’ s p r o je c t . R AH : D id yo u ha v e “ yo u r ” s t y le befor e going up t o N e w Yo r k ? KH : Ye a h, I d e f init e ly d id . I ’ ve alw ays done t he s a m e t hing, a nd I ’ v e a lw ay s s t uc k pr etty muc h with f ilm t hr o ug h it a ll. At f ir s t I w as dow n on my f i na nc e s a nd c o uld n’ t go buy a nice digital camer a, s o I w a s k ind o f fo r c e d in s t aying w it h f ilm and 15

m a d e t he d e c is io n t ha t it w o uld b e my lit t le nic he . I ’ v e a l w ay s b e e n r e a lly int o p o r t r a it ur e , a nd t ha t ’ s k ind o f w ha t I s t uc k w it h. I g ue s s a f e w ye a r s a go w he n I f ir s t s t a r t e d lo o k in g a t Vic e I d id n’ t f e e l my s e lf t r a ns fo r m ing w ha t I w a s d o ing t o f it in . I t a p p e a le d t o m e s o m uc h b e c a us e it w a s w ha t I li k e d . I w o uld n’ t s ay it ’ s c ha nge d a t a ll s inc e I ’ v e go t t e n a s s o c ia t e d w it h t he m , but w it h t ha t s a i d t he r e a s o n I d o lik e t he m a g a z ine s o m uc h is b e c a us e it ’ s w ha t I e njoy, it ha s t ha t lo o k t ha t a p p e a ls t o m e . R AH : W ha t p h o t o g r a p hy i nf lue nc e s a nd int e r e s t s yo u r ig ht no w ? KH : I k ind o f d o n’ t ne c e s s a r ily d r a w my in s p i r a t io n f r o m jus t p h o t o g r a p h y, and I’m pretty b a d

a t f ind ing a lo t o f ne w w o r k and becoming obs e s s e d w it h o ne p e r s o n’ s s t y le. I’ ll kind of dr aw lit t le t iny p i e c e s f r o m e v e r y thing. I’ ve alw ays b e e n d r a w ing a nd p a int ing a nd doing mix media t y p e w o r k , but t he r e ’ s a ls o a lot of c las s ic phot o g r a p he r s t ha t ha v e t ha t s t y le. I think I’m kind o f nit p ic k y a b o ut t ha t ; I ’ ll f ind one thing a bout o ne c e r t a in a r t is t t h a t I e njoy, and then usually t he r e ’ s ha lf o f it t ha t I d o n’ t like. R AH : Yo ur w o r k is t r a d it io na l in the w ay it is set up, but t he s ub je c t m a t t e r is your own thing. Can yo u t a l k a b o ut t ha t fo r a m inut e? KH : I t ’ s a lw ay s jus t b e e n k ind of the community I ’ v e inv o lv e d my s e lf in. I t ’ s my gener ation, you k no w, a nd yo ur s. K id s no w a d ays just have their he a d in a ll d if f e r e nt d ir e c t io ns and don’ t t hink a b o ut a ny t hing. T hey a r e us ually getting into t r o uble a nd ha v ing a go o d t im e, and it ’ s jus t my o w n w ay t o d o c um e nt a nd s ha r e w hat w as going o n in my lif e , t he p e o p le t ha t I c hoos e t o s pend my d ay s w it h.

R A H: Does Ric hm ond hav e it s o w n v o ic e ? KH: I m ean ther e’s a lot o f he a v y s hit h e r e t ha t ’ s go n e o n t ha t kind of isn’ t, well I’m not go ing t o s ay it is n’ t go ing o n in o t he r places, but Ric hmond definit e ly ha s t his l o o k , a nd it ’ s b e e n ta ke n ov er by like a lot kid s t ha t a r e uniq ue he r e . R A H: T he cultur e is a uniq ue v o ic e t ha t is n’ t N e w Yor k and that isn’ t LA. It m ay b e b it s a nd p i e c e s o f e ve r ything, but it’s kind o f m e lt ing int o it s own thing, and I like seeing p e o p l e g i v e a lit t le bit of attitude a bout Ric hm o nd . We a r e lik e t he little r edheaded ste pc hild o r t he b a d r e l a t io ns hi p yo u d on’ t w ant, those kinds o f t hing s a r e s y no ny mous with Ric hm ond. Do you see your self staying in R ic hm o nd ? D o yo u se e your self with enough op p o r t unit ie s he r e t ha t will gr o w ?

KH : Ye a h, a nd t ha t w a s k ind o f my d r i v e with coming bac k. I w e nt t o N e w Yo r k a nd t ho u g ht t his is a w es ome, but it ’ s not m ine . And w it h c o m ing b a c k t o R ic hm ond it’s so fuc king d ir t c he a p he r e c o m p a r e d t o N e w Yo r k, and it ’ s jus t being built up o n w it h a l l t he s e t hing s. I m ean, one, they ar e r e v a m p ing t he w ho le c it y s lo w ly, a nd it’s becoming nice. And jus t t h r o ug h t he s c ho o l t he r e a r e all these ar tists c o m i ng o ut o f it , a nd t he r e ’ s a lo t o f kids with dri ve to d o w ha t t hey w a nt t o d o. I t ’ s w ide open, and I feel lik e he r e I ha v e t ha t o p p o r t unit y t o jus t k ind of r i d e t ha t w a v e a nd h o p e f ully f in d myself in a good s it ua t io n. I ’ m ha p py w it h it r ig ht now. In Ne w Yor k I f e e l lik e I ha v e t ha t im p r e s s ion w her e not hing w o uld e v e r b e go o d e no ug h fo r m e ther e, but her e I f e e l lik e I ha v e a ll t he s t uf f r i g ht i n fr ont of me, and I c a n jus t d o w ha t I w a nt w it h it . I c a n s e e b r ing ing s o m e t hing int o N e w Yor k, but as f ar as s t a r t ing s o m e t hing o ut , I f e e l lik e t hat ’ s a hor rible p la c e t o d o it , b e c a us e t he r e ’s t hat compet it ion a n d r e nt is r id ic ulo us. B ut her e, ther e’s all t he o p p o r t unit y in t he w or ld, it jus t t ak es t he m o t i v a t io n t o d o it . I t’s easy to f all into a t r a p ; w he n I w a s a t s c hool I found mys elf jus t no t go ing t o c la s s and not gi ving a s hit a b o ut a ny t hing, b e cause it’s so easy t o lo s e m o t i v a t io n. B ut if you stay on top o f it t he n yo u ge t s o m uc h mor e out of it. I f e e l lik e t he r e a r e s o m a ny oppor tunities to ge t t he b a ll r o lling a nd do s omet hing. Lik e t he w ho l e Re c yc le s c r e w, the twins, Shelly a n d Er in, b e t w e e n t he two of them and 17

Ev an, and all the stuf f they ’ v e d o ne w it h B o o k s o n Whe e ls, the bike lot, Bes t Fr ie nd ’ s D ay, Sla ug h ter ama… they ar e a huge p a r t o f w ha t go e s o n with that. T hey did that out o f t h e ir o w n p a s s io n and they ar e li ving of f of it , a nd it ’ s t he ir c a r e e r now. I feel like if they w a nt e d t o d o a ny t hing in this city they’ d know the r ig ht p e o p le t o m a k e i t ha p pe n. And it’s r e w ar ding, t o o ; t hey a r e g i v ing b a c k to the c om m unity and r id ing b ik e s e v e r yd ay. People like that inspir e me t o jus t c o nt inue w ha t I’m d oing.

K H : R ig ht no w w e ’ v e b e e n d o ing s o m e s c r e e n p r int ing, a nd w e t ho ug ht w e w e r e go ing t o ge t s la p p e d w it h a bunc h o f lit t le b a s e b a ll t e a m s o r b a nd s, bu t w e ’ v e b e e n fo r t una t e e no ug h t o k no w e n o ug h p e o p l e t o w he r e w e c a n p r int . . . it ’ s k ind o f lik e w e a r e h e lp in g t he m o ut t hey a r e he lp ing us o ut . G uy s w ho o w n c lo t h ing line s and a r e d o ing g r a p hic d e s ig n fo r o ur bus i ne s s, it ’ s k ind o f ge t t ing t his b ig c o m m unit y o f a r t is t s t o ge t he r. I w o uld lik e t o j us t p r o g r e s s i v e ly w o r k w it h m o r e a nd m o r e p e o p le t ha t ins p ir e m e a nd ge t o t he r w o r k a nd ad v ic e , o t he r p ublic a t io ns a nd d o a ‘ z ine . I ’ d

R A H: Talking a little bit a b o ut yo ur e d uc a t io n a t VCU – d o you think colle ge p r e p a r e s yo u fo r t he “r e a l wor ld”?

“ I w e n t t o N e w York a n d t h ou gh t t h i s i s aw e s om e b u t it’ s n ot m i n e . ”

in d o ing t his s t uf f, b e c a us e you w ant to f ind a n ic he t o w he r e yo u ge t t o do w hat you love t o d o. T ha t ’ s w hy I ’ v e t a k en it as seriously a s I ha v e , b e c a us e a m a jo rity of people gi ve up a t s o m e p o int a nd ge t s tuc k in their job. I ha t e t o o m a ny p e o p le t o have those jobs. I’ d lik e t o w o r k fo r my s e lf a nd let people enjoy w ha t I d o. And yo u c a n d o t hat in R ic hmond. I ’ d lov e t o b e b a c k i n N e w Yor k for numer ous r e a s o ns ; e v e r y b o dy k no w s w hy it ’ s s o gr eat , but i t ’ s g r e a t he r e , t o o. I t ’ s like you can’ t have e v e r y t hing, a nd t ha t ’ s t he thing, it ’ s jus t lik e o ne p la c e a nd e v e r y b o dy has to be ther e. It’s lik e , w hy d o n’ t m o s t o f yo u people move bac k t o R ic hm o nd a nd w e c a n m a ke this better than it a lr e a dy is, t ha t ’ s ho w I feel a bout it. T he p o t e nt ia l is t he r e .

KH: Yeah, it helped me de v e lo p my c r a f t b e c a us e it’s just that little kic k in t he a s s t o d o w ha t yo u ha ve to do. If I wer e doing it o n my o w n t im e I wo uldn’ t hav e my f ac e in a b o o k a s m uc h a s I d id in sc hoo l, and I wouldn’ t ha v e t he a ns w e r s t o s o m e of my questions w hen I w a nt e d t he m , lik e I d i d in sc hool. It w as definitely b e ne f ic i a l, but I ’ m no t gonna say you need to go. I t c a n b e s e lf - t a ug ht , but the moti v ation isn’ t ther e lik e it is w he n yo u’ r e in a c la s s, w hen ther e’s tha t lit t le b it o f c o m p e t i tio n a nd teac her s e g g you o n t o d o g r e a t t hing s.

lik e t o e d it a G e t L o o s e C r e w v id e o, a nd I ’ v e go t a ll t he s e d if f e r e nt t hing s go in g o n; it ’ s jus t f ind ing t he r ig ht p e o p le t o he lp m e d o it a ll. I t ’ s a ll r e la t i v e t o m e in o ne w ay o r a no t he r.

To s e e m o r e w o r k f r o m K e vin Hennes s ey, c he c k o ut k nuc k le s a nd w it c he s. blo g s p ot . com

RA H : W ha t w a s t he na m e o f t he s c r e e n p r int ing c o m p a ny ?

To f ind o ut m o r e a b o ut P r int ing, Em a il ho t b ox r v a @ g m a il. c o m

R A H: Ke vin, w hat do you s e e in yo ur ne a r f ut ur e ? What ar e you wor king on? A r e t he r e a ny c o nc e p t s o r sho r t film s or a photo s ho o t go ing o n?

K H : H o t b ox . We c a lle d it H o t b ox . I t s e e m s t o b e w o r k ing o ut s o f a r. T ha t ’ s my jo b r ig ht no w ; I c o uld n’ t ha v e a s k e d fo r a ny t hing b e t t e r. I ’ m no t p o ur in g d r ink s fo r s o m e d ic k he a d a t a b a r, e v e n t ho ug h I ’ m t ha t d ic k he a d f r o m t im e t o t im e . T ha t ’ s t he b a t t le w it h e v e r y b o dy

R AH : T ha nk s fo r t a k ing t he t ime.

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Scr een

ART NON-STOP!

A n i n t e rv i e w w i t h A m a n da Wa c h o b K a t ie M cBr ide a nd the G a lla g her s

Amanda Wac hob is an upstate Ne w Yor k based painter and tattoo ar tist. She brings her iconoc lastic and delicate style to Ric hmond this December. Chec k her out at Ghostprint Galler y star ting on Friday the 5th. T his isn’t your fir st time showing in Ric hmond, w hat’s your connection to the city? T hea Duskin’s Ghostprint Galler y is my connection to the city. T hea has br ought something r eally c lassy to Ric hmond. Ghostprint is a high-end ar t g aller y combined with the highest level of tattooing. I’m thrilled to be associated with her enterprise. How is your r eception her e in Ric hmond dif fer ent fr om other mar kets? I’ ve sold wor k in Ric hmond, so I’m glad to see that the ar t mar ket seems to be thriving. T he subject matter in your paintings all seem to be infor med by a 1960s illustr ation aesthetic. What dr aws you to that aesthetic and subject matter? I am fascinated with magazines and e phemer a fr om the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s. I love pouring over the candy-color ed photo gr a phs and ads. I love how I feel enticed and subtly manipulated by them. I like the idea of br eathing ne w life into outdated print.

You ar e mor e consistent in subject matter with your paintings, w her eas your tattoos show a gr eater v ariety, perhaps because it is a mor e collabor ative pr ocess. Do you enjoy the sor t of collabor ations that ar e involved in tattooing or do you pr efer pur suing mor e per sonal wor k? Is ther e one pr ocess you feel mor e inc lined to? I like both mediums equally. Tattooing and painting both satisfy dif fer ent aspects of me. My tattoo wor k is mostly custom, so it is a collabor ation with my c lient. It is a combination of their idea and mine, and the end r esult shows that. Unless Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m doing a commission, my painting is just for me. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s w hen I need to expr ess my own ideas or w hen I need to wor k thr ough my own emotions.

Is tattooing that dif fer ent fr om cr eating g aller y wor k (other than, c lear ly the physical medium)? Your abstr act br ush paintings on pa per tr anslate to tattoo incr edibly well, how dif fer ent ar e the two pr ocesses? How do they over la p? In my opinion tattooing is muc h har der than painting. T her e ar e so many v ari ables that you have ver y little contr ol over. Painting is pr etty str aightforw ar d. Br ushes, paint, oil...and your canv as doesn’ t move ar ound on you w hile you ar e tr ying to wor k on it. I use f lat br ushes to paint the a bstr act wor k, and I think par t of that is because I use Ma gs to tattoo it; they ar e sha ped the same. While tattooing is obviously becoming muc h mor e socially acce pta ble (it’s not just for sailor s and Hells Angels anymor e!) than it w as e ven 10 or 15 year s a go, do you find that people ar e shoc ked and pleasantly sur prised by your por tfolio – that’s it’s not all skulls and dancing ladies and dr a gons? Do people expr ess shoc k that it looks so muc h like “ar t”? T hat is the fir st thing that people comment on...that my tattoo wor k looks so “painter ly”. And I’ ve gotten a huge r esponse with my a bstr act tattoo wor k, people fly into NYC fr om all over the wor ld to have me ink it. I think people ar e ver y used to seeing Asian dr a gons and tr aditional g ypsy heads, so yes, they ar e sur prised w hen they see something that goes a g ainst the gr ain. What has been the r eaction to your wor k within the tattoo community? Ar e people excited to see the medium gr owing and attaining suc h a br oad de gr ee of stylistic v ariety, or ar e some people put of f by it because it is so dif fer ent fr om the tr aditional styles of tattooing?

So f ar, most of the people that I have met within the tattoo community think the a bstr act stuf f is pr etty out ther e. T his industr y is conser v ative and I think c hange can be intimidating for some people. But the r eaction that I get fr om my c lients is ver y positive, and ultimately, those ar e the people that I aim to please. Is ther e suc h a thing to you as low ar t vs. high ar t? Is ther e any v alue in keeping these things se par ate? For me the idea of high ar t or low ar t is blur r y. I’ d r ather not be elitist and put something in a cate gor y of “high” or “low”. It almost sounds like saying one is good quality and the other is bad. T her e ar e things all ar ound me that I feel inspir ed and moved by, and I don’ t alw ays see the v alue in labels, especially w hen it comes to ar t. If you could tattoo anyone in histor y w ho would it be and w hat would you put on them? I’m just bummed that I didn’ t get to do Popeye’s anc hor s. So w hat’s next? Various commissions, exhibition deadlines and a pile of custom tattoo dr awings that need to be attended to. Ar t non-stop!

Ghostprint Galler y (www.ghostprintgaller y.com) is located at 220 W. Br oad St., Ric hmond, VA 23220. Hour s ar e Wednesday-Satur day fr om 1 p.m.-7 p.m. or by appointment. (804) 344-1557

Yo u p r o b a b l y k n o w t h e m b e s t f o r t h e i r e x t e n s i v e collection of specialty sneaker s and their abili t y t o f i l l d a n c e p a r t i e s p a s t c a p a c i t y, b u t B i l l y Manzanares and Rudy Lopez of Henr y have a new p r o j e c t t h a t r e c a l l s R i c h m o n d ’ s r o o t s. T h e y ’ v e tr ansfor med historic Richmond into limited edition a r t i s t i c s t r e e t w e a r. I f yo u r h e a r t b e l o n g s t o t h i s c i t y, h u r r y o v e r t o 2 1 2 We s t B r o a d S t . I t s h o u l d c o m e a s n o s u r p r i s e t h a t t h e o w n e r s o f H e n r y, a store named after the adver tising agent who coined the ter m “sneaker” back in 1917, would venture into a fashion collaboration with the illust r i o u s Va l e n t i n e R i c h m o n d H i s t o r y C e n t e r. T h e H e n r y b oy s f i r s t m e t B i l l M a r t i n , t h e d i r e c t o r a n d h i s t o r i c a l c o n n o i s s e u r o f t h e Va l e n t i n e R i c h m o n d H i s t o r y C e n t e r, a n d L e s l e y B r u n o, e s t e e m e d d i r e c t o r o f p u b l i c r e l a t i o n s , a t a S t y l e We e k l y par ty at the for mer Infuzion. The two innovative teams had immediate interest to collaborate and link the distinctive ar t of Richmond past with the p r e s e n t g a l l e r y s c e n e . W h i l e m a ny m i g h t j u d g e t h e ex i s t i n g a r t s c e n e t o b e d i s c o n n e c t e d , t h e s e t w o r e p u t a bl e R i c h m o n d e n t i t i e s a r e w o r k i n g t o

Rig ht: Gr eetings shir t d esig n Ab ove: Souvenir Folder of Ric hmond, Vir ginia p o stcar d set by Ric hmo nd Ne ws Co mp a ny c . 1925

bridge together ar tistic crowds that customa r i ly d o n o t o v e r l a p. A s t h e s e a s o n s c h a n ge and winter temperatures strike, this fresh collaboration surfaces as November’s Fir st Fr i d ay f o c u s a t H e n r y. A f t e r a g r e a t d e a l o f b r a i n s t o r m i n g, R u dy, B i l ly a n d B i l l d e c i d e d t o d e s i g n a t - s h i r t l i n e b a s e d o n s p e c i f i c a l ly s e l e c t e d i t e m s f r o m t h e Va l e n t i n e R i c h m o n d H i s t o r y C e n t e r. A s a n u r b a n m u s e u m , l o c a t e d a t 1 0 1 5 E a s t C l ay S t . , t h e Va l e n t i n e h a s w i t n e s s e d c h a n ge i n s e n s i tive areas of racial and class division and is k n o w n f o r i t s a b i l i t y t o d i s p l ay ex h i b i t i o n s a n d f o r m p u bl i c p r o g r a m s t h a t r e p r e s e n t a n e n t i r e c i t y ’ s c u l t u r e . T h e Va l e n t i n e s h o w c a s e s m o r e t h a n a m i l l i o n p r e s e r v e d p h o t o g r a p h s, t ex t i l e s a n d a r t i f a c t s t h a t i n t e r p r e t 4 0 0 ye a r s o f R i c h m o n d ’ s h i s t o r y t h r o u g h i t e m s o f e v e r yd ay l i f e . B e c a u s e o f t h e e x t e n t o f t h e a r c h i v e s, c h o o s i n g t h e ex a c t p i e c e s t o r e p r o d u c e t o o k weeks of digging through endless collections o f c o v e t e d b a s e b a l l c a r d s, c r e a t i v e t o b a c c o adver tisements and photos of downtown. Rig ht: Bases Loaded shir t d esig n Ab ove: THOSS Ric hmond Cig ar ette Car d Old Mill Cig ar ettes c. 1910. Gift of Mr. Henr y Waller stein, Jr. and Mr. Ed w ar d I. Waller stein

The designer s behind this collaboration, Bria n Vi l l a l o n , M a u r i c i o P a t a r r oyo, M i l e s Q u i l l e n and Rudy Lopez, created 20 original gr aphics that, after much discussion, were nar rowed down to five final detailed designs that have

b e e n p r i n t e d o n t - s h i r t s a s a n ex c l u s i v e , l i m i t e d p r i n t c o l l e c t i o n a v a i l a bl e o n ly a t H e n r y. T h e d e s i g n e r s k e p t t h e e n t i r e p r o c e s s l o c a l , by p r i n t i n g t h e t - s h i r t s i n R i c h m o n d a t A d v e n t u r e s i n T- S h i r t L a n d . Fr o m i n i t i a l i n t e r e s t , t o d e v e l o p e d c o n c e p t , t o a m p l e c o m p l e t i o n t h e e n t i r e H e n r y & Va l e n t i n e Collabor ation has taken place in Richmond, exemplifying the endless pot e n t i a l o f t h i s c i t y. A s t h e Va l e n t i n e R i c h m o n d H i s t o r y C e n t e r ’ s e v o c a t i v e s l o g a n s t a t e s, “ H i s t o r y w i l l n e v e r b e t h e s a m e , ” H e n r y i nv i t e s u s a l l t o a l t e r i t n o w.

Rig ht: Ease Bac k shir t d esig n Ab ove: Emp loyees o f un id entified slaug hter and meat p ac king fir m c. 191 5 Fr om Ric hmond: A Pictorial Histor y fr o m the Valentine Museum and Dementi Co llectio ns

By R. Anthony Har ris 31

Pulp Tones 10

UPGRADE AND AFTERLIFE Landis Wine | Image by Brandon Peck

Ten seems to be an adequat e num b e r a t w hic h t o s t o p. I w a s init ia lly a im ing t o write an old-f ashioned Year in Re v ie w, but a t t his p o int , w it h t he e le c t io n c yc l e ending, vinyl r etur ning to b ig b ox s t o r e s lik e B e s t B uy a nd p r o m ine nt o nli ne r etailer s like Amazon, the d ig i t a l m us ic r e v o lut io n ha s ha p p e n e d . We a r e no w li ving in the shadow of its s t a t us q uo. I ’ m c e r t a inly no t p o s ing t he p o int t ha t ther e’s nothing inter esting ha p p e ning in m us ic , bu t I f e e l lik e P ulp To ne s ha s simply come full cir c le and a c c o m p li s he d t he t a s k o f a llo w ing me t o s o r t o u t my cur r ent r elationship wit h p o p c ult ur e in a p ublic fo r um . So, be fo r e w e go, le t’s sift thr ough the r ub ble . In a r e c ent Villa ge Voice int e r v ie w w it h T V On T he R a d io, t he w r it e r c a s u ally noted that the band c ur r e nt ly ha d a m a s s i v e hit o n t he i r ha n d s und e r the guise of K anye West’s “ Lov e Lo c k d o w n” , w ho s e lo ne p ia no, p o ly r hy t hm s and af fe cted vocals wer e huge ly in d e b t t o t he p a t hs g r a z e d by t he fo r m e r. I voice d the idea that hip-hop w a s b e c o m ing f a r m o r e f a s c ina t ing a nd p r o g r e s si ve than any other pop m us ic fo r m fo r a w hile no w, but t he p a s t ye a r ha s made it painfully easy for m e t o d r o w n o ut a ny d is s e nt . T he ge nr e t ha t g r e w up with punk in Ne w Yor k ha s no w b o t h a b s o r b e d a nd b e a ut if ully c a nnib a liz e d a br oader spectr um of mus ic t ha n a nyo ne c o uld ha v e e v e r im a g ine d , a n d mor e a nd m or e ar tists in t he ge nr e a r e t oy ing w it h ne w m us ic t e c hno lo g ie s, the Inter net and f an par tic ip a t io n. M e a nw hile , w e ha v e t he d inos a u r o f G un s N’ Roses r eleasing an album t ha t is a p unc h line a t t his p o int (a nd o nly a t Best Buy) and AC/DC riding o n t he s uc c e s s o f t he ir ne w r e c o r d (a v a il a bl e exc lusi vely at Wal-Mar t), jo ining t he r a nk s o f t he Sm a s hing Pum pk ins in d e li v e r ing a big FU CK YOU to any a nd a ll ind e p e nd e nt r e t a ile r s w ho ho p e t o c a p i ta lize on, you know, selling r e c o r d s. M e a nw hile , t he p r e s s s a li v at e d ov e r t he innov a ti ve sonic tec hnique a nd lif e - a f f ir m ing (a nd d e a f e ning ) p e r fo r m a nc e s of My Bloody Valentine, w ho s e e m ing ly r e unit e d t o s ho w e v e r yo ne t ha t t hey a r e do ing it hor ribly, hor ribly w r o ng. D e s p it e my lov e fo r b a nd s lik e M y B lo o dy Valentine, I can’ t help but t hink t ha t t h ing s a r e i n a r e v iling r ut w he n ne w “it” gr oups Vi vian Gir ls, De e r hunt e r, N o Age , C r y s t a l St ilt s, e t a l a r e r id in g hig h o n a ping a tr end that p e a k e d ov e r a d e c a d e a go. And t ho ugh p e o p le c a n

lo d ge m o r e t ha n a f e w v a lid p o int s a b o ut t he o c c a s io na l v a pidity of hip-hop, a t le a s t t hey ’ r e t r y ing. T hey ’ r e p us hing fo r s o m e t hing a nd ex ploring hybrids, a nd , t ho u g h t he r e s ult s c a n s o m e t im e s b e s t ilt e d , t hey ’ r e s t ill ex ploring t er r i t o r y t ha t s o m a ny o t he r a r t is t s s e e m t o b e a f r a id t o t r e ad. T he r e c o r d s f r o m o t he r ge nr e s t ha t ha v e s t uc k o ut t o m e this year have been m uc h m o r e t r a d it io na lly s o ng b a s e d . G im m ic k s a r e e a s y t o peek thr ough and d is m a n t le , bu t t he s o r t o f s p r a w ling s o ng w r it ing e v id e nced in r ecor ds like Sun K il M o o n’ s A pril , w hic h c a m e o ut e a r lie r t his ye a r, makes the perf ect c a s e fo r t he f a c t t ha t q ua lit y s o ng w r it i ng, und e r a ny g uise, alw ays stic ks. T he a lbum is by no m e a ns a c a s ua l lis t e n, a s t h e f ir s t t w o songs c loc k in at t w e nt y m inut e s c o m b i ne d , but t he r e ’ s a d e p t h t o t he s o ng w rit ing t hat ’ s near ly a b s e nt f r o m s o m uc h o f w ha t ha s c r o s s e d my p a t h t his year. Ruminations on t he d e a t h o f a m u s e a r e ne v e r p a r t ic ula r ly s o o t hin g, but the subtlety on the r e c o r d is a b s o lut e ly z e n. O f c o ur s e , t ha t r ing ing e nd o r s e m e n t c o u ld jus t b e a s ig n of me losing my e d ge . I ha d a c o nv e r s a t io n w it h a f r ie nd t w o ye a r s a go, w ho had been an avid r e c o r d c o lle c t o r fo r ye a r s, a b o ut w ha t he ha d lis t e ne d t o that year. And his a ns w e r ? H e ha d b e e n lis t e ning t o a c o lle c t io n o f e a r ly Willie Nels on demos w it h lit t le t o no c o nc e r n fo r ne w m u s ic . I ’ m s l o w ly m e t a m or phosing into the s a m e , a id e d in no s m a l l p a r t t ha t by v ir t ue o f p lay ing s hows, r ecor ding and b o o k ing s ho w s fo r o t he r b a nd s, my it c h fo r ne w m us ic is s c r at c hed int o a s or e o n a w e e k ly b a s is. Ev e n s o, hip - ho p, t he r e s ur ge nc e o f v inyl and the sli ver s o f lig ht t ha t a p p e a r in t he fo r m o f g r o up s lik e B a t t le s a nd ex periment al elect r o nic r e c o r d s k e e p m e c a p t i v a t e d . T ha nk s t o e v e r yo ne fo r t he e nc o ur a ge m e nt a nd k ind w o r d s a bout P ulp Tones a n d t he p a t ie nc e o f t he r e a d e r s hip w it h my p ublic ex o r cism of ideas. I’m s ig ning o f f fo r no w.

S i n c e 2 0 0 3 , M a n M a n h a s b e e n m a k i n g m a n i c , h e a r t b r e a k i n g, h e a r t a c h i n g m u s i c p e r f e c t f o r t h i n k i n g, d r i n k i n g a n d d a n c i n g l i k e a l u n a t i c . T h e i r l a t e s t a l bu m , R a b b i t H a b i t s ( A n t i Re c o r d s ) , h a s r e c e i v e d m u c h c r i t i c a l a c c l a i m . Yo u ’ l l f i n d t h e c l e v e r, t o n g u e - i n - c h e e k l y r i c s a n d t h e u s u a l a s s o r t m e n t o f w a c k y i n s t r u m e n t s yo u g r e w t o l o v e i n p r e v i o u s a l b u m s, b u t R a b bit Habits shows a new kind a maturity for the band and highlights a kind of organization within each song that was not as apparent in the past. A s f o r t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n o f t h e a l bu m a s a w h o l e , i t ’ s a b i t o f a r o l l e r c o a s t e r. T h e s t e a dy r o l l i n g “ M i s t e r Ju n g S t u f f e d ” s t a r t s o f f t h e a l b u m l e a d i n g i n t o t h e m o r e f r e n z i e d “ H u r l y / B u r ly ” a n d “ B u t t e r B e a n s, ” w h i c h p l ay s l i k e a v i n t a ge c a r t o o n w i t h x y l o p h o n e s t w i s t i n g u p a r o u n d yo u . O n e o f t h e b e s t t r a c k s o n t h e a l bu m , “ B i g Tr o u bl e , ” w a i l s l i k e a h a p h a z a r d f u n e r a l m a r c h i n t o yo u r e a r. “ W h a t e v e r m a k e s yo u t i c k / i s w h a t m a k e s m e c r a w l / t h o u g h t h e m u d , t h e bl o o d a n d t h e m e m o r i e s / a n d t h e w o r s t o f i t a l l . ” T h e r e s t o f t h e a l bu m i s f u l l o f f i r e w o r k s, s u r p r i s e s, s h o c k e r s a n d b o m b s h e l l s, j e r k i n g yo u f r o m d a n c y j oy t o e m o t i o n a l , p e n s i v e r e v e l a t i o n . K e e p a n eye o u t e s p e c i a l ly f o r t r a c k s “ Po o r J a c k i e ” a n d “ To p D o g. ”

Int r o by La ur e n Vinc e l li | I nter vie w conducted by Adam L ac y L i ve p ho tos by D a v id K e ne dy

Photo co ur te sy o f the b a nd

Rabbit Habits will conjure up the best and wor st character s on a flickeri n g s c r e e n i n yo u r h e a d . L i e o n t h e f l o o r a n d l i s t e n t o t h i s a l b u m t w i c e a s l o u d l y a s p o s s i bl e . L e t t h e i r hy p e r, g r i z z ly, j a z z y, g y p s y, c a v e m a n c l a n g i n g f i l l u p yo u r r o o m , a n d I t h i n k yo u ’ l l a g r e e i t i s o n e o f t h e b e s t a l b u m s o f 2008. A d a m L a c y, my c o l l e a g u e a n d c o - h o s t w i t h t h e W D C E 9 0 . 1 F M r a d i o p r o g r a m E l R a d o n , w a s a bl e t o s c o r e a n i n t e r v i e w w h e n M a n M a n r e c e n t ly p l ay e d T h e N a t i o n a l . H e f o u n d o u t w hy R a b b i t H a b i t s i s “ t h e t r i a l ” f o r M a n M a n a n d w hy t h e b a n d i s m o r e t h a n j u s t m u s i c a l c a v e m e n b a n g i n g o n s h i t . 39

I showed up to The National early, hoping that I could knock out this interview and stay out of everyone’s hair. As I walked around the side of the venue to the load-in door, I noticed something peculiar. There were no vans, trailers or other obvious signs of a bustling backstage one would expect a mere one hour to the doors opening out front. I approached a staff member to inquire as to where my interviewee might be found. “Fat chance! The band’s not even here yet. They won’t be ‘til around 7 either,” I was told by a scruffy stagehand. I went off to make a couple of phone calls and regroup, not letting this minor setback keep me from getting what I came for. A great show and an interview with Ryan Kattner, otherwise known as Honus Honus, the lead singer/keyboard player for Man Man. After skulking about for a bit I finally saw a large box van pull up and a road-weary crew piled out. I walked up and introduced myself to my intended target. I was a bit apprehensive, at the same time I wanted to stay as unobtrusive as possible. After load-in was complete and the band had shaken off the road miles of the day, I caught up with Honus Honus on the way out to smoke a cigarette. Upon finding a couple of chairs and a lighter, we were able to find a quiet spot on 7th Street between a plate glass window and a couple of dumpsters. : With your constant touring schedule, do you guys ever get some sor t of vacation or is touring like vacation for you guys? : It’s definitely not vacation for us. Any down time we have between tours is just us gearing up for another tour. So we’ve been doing that for the past three and a half years, and it’s kind of wearing us out so we’re going to have to remedy that and take a little break after this tour.

down time is just putting together our psyches pretty much. It’s funny this is the first time we have ever played Richmond in all the years that we’ve toured. : With you guys constantly changing lineups from record to record to record, you and the drummer have both been around (since the beginning). Is it difficult having people come in and want to do something different or do you just kind of pick and choose and say we’re going to do it this way? : You know, I mean, people have been coming and going because it’s a hard lifestyle. Just being on the road all the time you have to forego a lot of things. I’m not complaining at all, because we’re lucky that we can be a band and go (tour) and people will come out and see us. We’re thankful for that. We could be touring our asses off and no one would come out and see us. It’s a blessing. : I know the audience goes kind of nuts at your show. How do you feed off of that energy? Do you just bust ass every night or do you just go with the feel of the crowd? We go for it every night. If the crowd is reacting, and we definitely want it to be a genuine reaction and people are feeling it, freaking out and they don’t really care what the people next to them think, that is like, the best crowd. We’ve played some shows on this tour where people just stand there with their arms crossed and you know, we’re not going to dial it in. It bums us out. We’re just going to play the set the way we were going to play it. We might get more aggressive in the way we’re playing because we get vibed out with those people watching us. Although, we understand that for first timers it can be a lot to take in. We understand that when people are just watching they could be just processing. You know, they’re not walking out.

: I know with the frenetic sound you guys have, just constantly going, constantly writing songs, do you think you will be able to take some down time and just rearrange things?

As far as where the style for Man Man came from, people try to compare you to a lot of other things. I try to explain to people what exactly your style is, and I have a hard time. When you were sitting down to come up with a concept did you say I want to make music like this, or did you just come together with the people you were around at the time?

: We just want to write new material. The past year has been hard because we’ve just been on tour forever, so we haven’t had any time to work on anything new really. Our

I wanted to make music. I watched this film many years ago called The Holy Mountain (1973). It’s by (Alejandro) Jodorwosky. I watched all his films, but The Holy Mountain

specifically. When I saw that film, it was just so beautiful and just violent and crazy and moving at times, and I wanted to do a musical equivalent to that film. Now when people ask me to describe the band I say it’s like Elton John buried alive, with a microphone and search dogs. : Excellent. Coming from that style and that sor t of explanation and the way things move you, you’re definitely a very feeling kind of person from what I’ve heard. Where do you draw your lyrics from? Is that just objective, seeing what goes on around you or is it kind of a subjective experience from you life?

There’s got to be an ebb to everything. It’s funny because putting together Rabbit Habits was so hard as far as sequencing the album, because you want it to be some sor t of narrative trip. It star ts off, and it grabs you and it pulls you in and by the end you’re almost at a melancholy outro. It was crazy putting our two longest songs last. It works. I l

: I wish I had an easygoing life. I wish that I was a laid back person. I wish that things weren’t always spiraling in some direction. But I feel that if these things weren’t happening it would definitely affect the lyrics. The lyrics are an amalgam of personal experience, stuff that has happened to other people, direct references, abstract references. It’s funny ‘cause the good thing about writing a pop song is that there is a level of objectivity that someone can identify with. If it’s too me, me, me, personal, it’s like, you know, who gives a fuck about you? You’re just whining. There’s times when I’ve written a song, and I think it’s relatively objective and that I’m only putting a little of myself into it, and then I’ll hear the song three or four years later and it’s like a time warp right to where I was. I’m like oh my God, you were fucked up (laughs). : Going from lyrics on the differits, it star ts out really strong. a message there. Is there any the flow to the albums? : do

Yeah, a

ent albums, with this new one, Rabbit HabThe first set of lyrics, you’re putting out specific way you choose the song order, it’s the same way we live set. That’s excellent. I like that idea there. I jumped ahead there a bit. To break one song down

from the new album, where a lot of bands are moving to Philly, going and coming, I can’t really say I have been up there a whole lot. No one has really been able to pigeonhole one Philly sound, but I know with your sound, “El Azteca,” that’s a great song, and it’s one of my favorite songs on the album. It really catches people off guard. I wouldn’t necessarily expect to hear that from a

There is a conch shell. If our boys were Lord of the Flies we would have killed Piggy immediately and then wrote a sad song about it. That’s the one thing that we’re trying to work on more and more. Our live shows they’re kind of full tilt; a lot of times the subtleties of the arrangements get lost in the hustle and bustle of the show. So we’re trying to work more of that in there. Trust me, if I thought we could get by this long by just banging on shit and screaming like cavemen, we would have done that from day one. But I don’t think people would stick around. It’s crazy, people come out and see us four of five times, and I don’t know how they can do it. But then again, I see us every night. w w w .m ys pa c e .c o m / w ea r em a n m a n 4 3

HO T LA V A 44

I have to confess, I hear d a b o u t H o t L a v a lo ng b e fo r e I s a w t he m . B ut w hen I finally did, I r eally w is he d I ha d n’ t w a it e d s o lo ng ! T he b a nd ’ s sound is undenia bly catc hy – t hi nk ‘ 6 0 s p o p s e n s ib i li t ie s m e e t s ‘ 9 0 s lo - f i indie r oc k. Lav alo g y , the ir d e but a lbum , w a s o f f ic ia lly r e le as e d o n B a r / No ne Rec or ds ear lier this m o nt h a nd is g a r ne r ing m uc h p r a is e t hr o ug h out the music wor ld.

J a r e d S o s a (d r u m s / v o c a l s ) : m e s s a ge s in my inb ox …

Ye a h, I s t ill ha v e 1 0 M y Space

A l l i s o n : I t w a s lik e t e a c h m e g uit a r, t e a c h m e g uit a r, b ecause he w a s t he o nly g uit a r p laye r I k ne w, a nd he w a s l ik e just use t he I nt e r ne t , s o I d i d . I le a r ne d a bu nc h o f s o n g s I lik e d. After a w hile my f r ie nd B ill a nd I s t a r t e d m a k ing r e a l s o ngs, kind After attending a hand f ul o f s h o w s t o ge t a n id e a o f ho w t he b a nd p laye d o f by a c c id e nt . B ut t he n B ill m ov e d a w ay, a nd I c a lled Jar ed to gether, I went to t he ir p r a c t ic e t o c o nd uc t t he int e r v ie w. W ha t s t r uc k o n a nig ht b e fo r e a s ho w a nd w a s lik e w a nna p lay b ass in my me most w as w hat a n inc r e d ibly nic e , f u n g r o up o f p e o p le t hey a r e . Wit h b a nd ? H e d id a nd m a g ic a lly he s t a r t e d p lay ing d r ums, t oo, a ppear anc es at CMJ a nd So ut h by So ut hw e s t in t he next f e w m o nt hs, yo u’ d a nd t he n a lo ng c a m e t he s e t w o ! (Po int s t o And r e w M ow e and b e wise to c atc h Hot La v a no w b e fo r e t hey exp lo d e . M a t t D e a ns. )

T ali a M iller : Tell me t he b a nd c r e a t io n s t o r y ! Al l ison Apper son ( vo c als/gu it ar ) : I t ’ s s o no t g la m o r o us. I w a s a ju nio r in inter acti ve design, and in s t e a d o f d o ing w o r k I w a s s t a r t ing t o m e s s a r o un d in Gar a geBand, and I made a ll t he s e f unny ins t r um e nt a l s o ng s w it h t he ir p r e p a c k a ge d lo op s. I just dec ided to s t a r t s ing ing ov e r t ho s e w he n I w a s r e a lly d r unk o ne nig ht and did that for a bout six m o nt hs. R a n d o m ly o ne d ay I b o ug ht a g uit a r, a n d I t r ie d t o ge t Ja r ed to teac h it to me , a nd he s a id no.

T a l i a : H o w d id yo u g uy s m e e t And r e w a nd M a t t ? A n d r e w M o w e (ba s s / v o c a l s ) : I w a s a f a n o f Hot Lav a. I w o uld go s e e t he ir s ho w s e v e r y t im e t hey p laye d . I t hought t hey w e r e r e a lly f un. I le a r ne d t o p lay b a s s a lit t le b it so they asked m e t o jo in a nd f ig ur e d it w a s a go o d f it s inc e nobody r eally k ne w w ha t t he he ll t hey w e r e d o ing.

E RUP T S !

Ta lia Mille r G r oup phot os by Ellie B olt on Li v e phot os by N e s t or D ia z 45

T al ia: So it w as just J ar ed a nd Allis o n a t f ir s t ?

J a r e d : Yo u’ r e no t go ing t o s e e C o he e d a nd C a m b r ia ?

Jared: We had a bunc h of p e o p le b e fo r e And r e w a nd M a t t . Al l is o n: T her e wer e like s e v e n p e o p le in t he b a nd b e fo r e t his ha ppened. It w as a bunc h o f f r ie nd s a nd t he n w e s t o p p e d p r a cticing to gether. T al ia: And you c am e in (po int ing a t M a t t )? Mat t Dea ns (keyboa r d/gu it ar /v oc als) : I ’ m la s t . I w a s in a ba nd c alled Ho-Ax , and I ha d ne v e r he a r d H o t La v a b e for e . My friend fr om that ba nd s a id w e s ho uld p lay a s ho w with Hot Lav a, and I’ d ne v e r he a r d t he m s o w e w e nt t o see them play, and I instant ly w a nt e d t o b e in t he b a n d . T he n ther e ha ppened to be a n o p e ning in t he b a nd . Tal ia: How long hav e you b e e n p lay ing in t his inc a rna tio n? Jared: Alm ost six m onths. T al ia: And you guys ar e s t a r t ing t o d o b ig t hing s now, (signing to r ecor d la b e l) B a r N o ne , (p l ay in g Ne w Yor k m usic festi v al) C M J … Al l is o n: T hat’s going to b e int e r e s t ing … I m e a n if I wer e at CMJ I’ d go see G e o r ge C lint o n, a nd w e ca n fo r fr ee!

A l l i s o n : I d o n’ t w a nna s e e t he m , no ! T ha t ’ s r e a l ly c o o l t ha t w e ge t t o d o t ha t s t uf f. I t ho ug h t M a c Ro c k w a s r e a lly c o o l w he n w e go t t o d o t ha t , b e c a u s e I a lw ay s w a nt e d t o go a nd t ha t w a s my f ir s t t im e go ing. T a l i a : T he a lbum B a r / N o ne r e le a s e d , yo u r e c o r d e d it a nd r e le a s e d it yo ur s e lf e a r lie r. I s it t r ue yo u us e d G a r a ge B a nd t o r e c o r d t he w ho le a lbum ? J a r e d : Ye p. I lik e d t he w ay Allis o n’ s s o ng s w e r e , a n d I d id n’ t r e a lly w a nt t o m a k e t he m t o o d if f e r e n t f r o m t ha t .

All i s o n : P lus, it ’ s t o o f r e e no t t o t a k e f ull a d v a n t a ge o f ! T alia : So t hey jus t t o o k it a nd r e p a c k a ge d it ? Andr e w : W he n I f ir s t jo ine d t he b a nd w e p laye d w it h O p p e nhim e r a t H y p e r link . B a r / N o ne ha s t he m o n t he ir la b e l, a nd t hey a s k e d Allis o n i f w e w a n t e d t o p lay a s ho w w it h t he m .

Allison: Ye a h, I g ue s s w e w e r e t he o nly p o p py b a nd t hey c o uld f ind in R ic hm o nd . We p laye d w it h t he m in M ay o f 2 0 0 7 , a nd it w a s k ind o f a b a d s ho w but t hey w e r e s t ill in t o it . I g ue s s w e ’ r e s o e nd e a ring w he n w e ’ r e r e a lly a w f ul! I g a v e t he m a r e a l ly

b a d d e m o a nd t he n w he n w e r e le a s e d t his o ne I s e nt it t o t he m , a nd w a s lik e , d o yo u s t ill lik e it ? And t hey w e r e lik e ye a h w e r e a lly d o ! Jar ed: I t w a s w e ir d , w e d id n’ t k no w w ha t t hey w e r e up t o b e c a us e t hey k e p t e m a iling. Allison: Ye a h t hey ’ d e m a il m e a ll t he t im e a nd b e lik e w e r e a lly lik e yo ur a lbum , a nd I w a s lik e o k ay t ha nk s, w e d o t o o I g ue s s ? T alia: Ok ay, t h a nk s, buy a hund r e d c o p ie s ! And t ha t o f f ic ia lly c a m e o ut la s t Tue s d ay o n B a r / N o n e , a nd yo u’ r e p lay ing B a r / N o ne ’ s s ho w c a s e a t C M J ? Allison: At m id nig ht ! T alia: I s t ha t like , t hey ’ r e b r e a k ing yo u g uy s a s t he ho t ne w b a nd a t m id nig ht ? Jar ed: I d o n’ t k no w if it ’ s go nna w o r k o ut . Yo u k no w ho w it is w he n it ’ s la t e a nd p e o p le w a nt t o go ho m e … T alia: I k no w yo u p lay a r o u nd t o w n f r e q ue nt ly. D o e s it ge t ex ha us t ing ? Ar e yo u s t a r t ing t o p lay le s s s ho w s ? Mat t : We ll, p e o p le k e p t a s k ing us t o p l ay s ho w s, a n d it s no w b a lle d a nd w e d id it fo r a lit t le w hi le a nd go t r e a l t ir e d , b e c a us e w e ha d t o go t o w o r k a n d f ind t he t im e t o w r it e s o m e ne w m a t e r ia l. I t ’ s

b e e n ha r d t o s c r a p e t ha t t ime to gether and no w w e a r e t r y ing t o k no c k some of t hat out . T a l i a : Ye a h, but it ’ s c o o l, t oo, becaus e I f eel lik e e v e r y t i m e I s e e yo u p lay t her e’ s a t ot ally d if f e r e nt c r o w d , a nd t hey ’ r e a ll r eally int o you! J a r e d : Ye a h, t ha t ’ s w hy I li k e doing it. T hey’ r e no t go ing t o s ho w up if t hey ’ v e alr eady seen it so ho p e f ully t he r e w ill a lw ay s b e ne w people t her e.

T a l i a : W he n yo u m a k e m us ic , d o you e ver think a b o ut t he p e o p le w ho a r e lis t ening to it, w hat yo u’ r e t r y ing t o ge t a c r o s s, t hing s lik e t hat ? A n d r e w : M y 5 - ye a r- o ld c o us in is r eally int o t he al bum . She a nd he r f r ie nd s p laye d it on her boombox in t he f r o nt la w n a nd d a nc e d a r o und . A l l i s o n : M y lit t le c o us ins lik e it , t o o !

A n d r e w : I t hink if w e ha d t o p ic k a tar get audience, it ’ d b e c hild r e n. M a t t : I ’ m f ina lly in a b a nd t ha t d o e s n’ t mak e my par ent s w a nt t o b a r f ! J a r e d : M y d a d s t ill c o m p la ins t ho ug h, lik e “ I can’ t unders t a nd t he ly r ic s ! ” T a l i a : I t hink t ha t ’ s a n a ge - o ld p a r e nt t hing.

Al l is o n: Onc e you’ r e 38 yo u c a n’ t und e rsta nd a ny thing any m or e!

T alia: Yo u jus t w a nt e d t o s ay b r e a s t f e e d e r s in t he int e r v ie w !

T al ia: As f ar as your ow n m us ic , w ha t a r e b a nds you listen to and thi nk a r e a w e s o m e ?

Mat t : N o, no, t hey ’ r e g r e a t . T hey ’ v e r e a lly inf lue nc e d w ha t I w a nt e d t o d o la t e ly ; t hey m a k e m e w a nt t o s o und m o r e lik e t he ‘ 6 0 s.

Mat t: I don’ t know if we’ r e go ing t o s o und a nything like these bands, but D e v o ha s a l w ays been a big inf luence o n m e , but I ’ m a keyboar d ner d. As f ar a s b a nd s t ha t p lay now, Enon, the Sad Cobr a s f r o m Ro a no a k e w ho we ’ r e friends with…

Allison: I t h ink w e ’ v e r e a lly b o nd e d ov e r ELO, t o o. T alia: I f yo u c o uld e a c h p lay m us ic w it h a ny o ne in his t o r y, w ho w o uld it b e ?

Andrew: Right now we’ ve b e e n p lay ing a s a Pr e te nder s c ov er band, and I t hink w e s o und like them in some w ays. I a l s o r e a lly e njoy liste ning to Pav em ent and la t e ly a lo t o f De e r ho of.

Allison: I w ant K im D e a l t o b e in t he b a nd . I t hink s he ’ d t a k e us fo r a c r a z y r id e !

Al l is o n: I as a kid r eally, r e a lly lov e d N o Do ubt, and T he P r etender s, a nd Eno n a nd t he Sad Cobr as; we all love t he m , I t hink in a cr e e py w ay. T hey ’ r e our b a nd c r us h.

Jar ed: Ye a h, he s e e m s f r ie nd ly !

Jared: I listen to a lot of 9 8 . 9 Lib e r t y, b e ca use they ’ v e got som e r e a lly d um b m a s hups, lik e Dave Matthe ws B a nd nex t t o B o b Ma r ley, I think intentionally … Mat t: Oh, ther e’s a ba nd f r o m M o nt r e a l ca lle d Les Br eastfeeder s w ho ha v e …

Andr ew: I t hink w e s ho uld d o a D a v id B o w ie d ue t .

Allison: And r e a lly w is e ! T alia: W ha t ’ s yo ur f unnie s t s ho w m e m o r y ? Te ll m e s o m e go o d o ne s ! Jar ed: So m e o ne go t in a f ig ht w he n w e w e r e p lay ing in Gr e env ille ! Allison: And w e ’ r e s o ha p py ! T alia: N o ! Wa s it c lo s e t o t he s t a ge ?

J a r e d : I t w a s a t a ho us e s ho w … w ha t w as it called? A l l i s o n : T he Tur d uc k e n ho us e ! We played ther e, and t hey ’ r e r e a lly f un. I t ’ s t he o nly t hing to do in Gr eenville fo r EC U s t ud e nt s. I g ue s s s o m e o n e got r eally mad during o ur s e t a nd s t a r t e d t his c ir c le p it thing, and these k id s go t in a f ig ht a nd w e jus t k e p t going! A n d r e w : I d id n’ t e v e n k no w w ha t w a s ha ppening! A l l i s o n : I d id n’ t e it he r unt il I s a w a f is t in t he air! T a l i a : D o yo u ha v e f u t ur e p la ns w it h B ar/None? A l l i s o n : We s ig ne d o n fo r 3 a lbu ms w it h t hem, but t hey ’ r e o p t io na l. So w e ha v e t o s t o p playing shows all t he t im e s o w e c a n w r it e s o ng s ! M a t t : T h e r e ’ s a ls o a J a p a ne s e r e c o r d la bel, K ur ofune, t ha t ’ s go ing t o b e d is t r ibut ing Lav alo g y in D ecember. Talia: t o ur ?

So d o e s t his m e a n yo u ge t to do a Ja panese

A l l : I ho p e ; w e go t t a go ! J a r e d : Wo uld n’ t yo u go ? T a l i a : Ye s ! Es p e c ia lly r e a d ing a b out the audiences ov e r t he r e f r e a k ing o ut fo r yo u!

J a r e d : Ev e n if t hey d i d n’ t , I ’ d be like bye guys, le t ’ s ge t s o m e b e e r ! T a l i a : Any t hing yo u w a nt m e t o as k , t hings t hat yo u w is h p e o p le w o uld a s k yo u? A l l i s o n : I d o n’ t lik e it w he n people say we s o und lik e t he b e a c h! I t ’ s ju st that one damn s o ng ! A n d r e w : O r p s yc he d e lic ! T a l i a : I t hink yo u g uy s s o und r eally surfy… is t ha t b e a c hy ? A l l i s o n : I t ’ s d if f e r e nt ! I ’ m tir ed of hearing a b o ut t he b e a c h; I d o n’ t lik e it t hat muc h! And f ut ur e p la ns, go t o J a pan… and Scot la nd ! We ’ r e t r y ing t o ge t our r ecor d put out t he r e , t o o.

SEE HOT LAVA PLAY ON DECEMBER 12TH AT GALLERY 5 AT THE GHOST OF POP IV, OR VISIT THEIR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION: WWW.HOTLVAOWNSYOU.COM 49

SOMETHING FOR ALL OF US I n t erv i ew w i t h B r en da n Ca n n i n g fro m B ro k en S o c i a l S c en e Alina Sha b ashe vic h | Pho to s by PJ S y k es

Br oken Social Scene’s iconic full, spr awling sound is at times intense, at times jovial, but consistently thoughtful, so it came as no sur prise that Br endan Canning would be the same w ay. Comfor ta ble and open, Br endan stood outside his tour bus in the Toad’s par king lot. We came upon him w atc h ing people excitedly str eam into his concer t, as he w aited unnoticed, str umming a small guitar, just a fe w feet fr om the concer t door s. We went looking for better lighting, descending into the w alkw ay along the canal. Br endan had an easy g ait and accompanied out w alk by str umming. He w as immediately friendly, but not too friendly. T her e w as nothing r ehear sed or banter y a bout it all. It w as the kind of conver sation driven by or g anic pensive moments of silence, making it comfor ta ble to ask a hodge-podge of questions.

out of that seemed to be mor e of a Br endan-centric kind of r ecor d. We wer en’ t r eally sur e w hat w as going on then, and then it w as, oh, we’ ll do this Br oken Social Scene Pr esents kinda thing. I r ealized, oh yeah, I w as thinking a bout that a w hile bac k, but mine w as mor e I pr esent Br oken Social Scene or Ke vin pr esents Br oken Social Scene. I don’ t know. T hat’s just kind of how it wor ked out.

A li n a S h a bas h ev i c h: I w anted to star t by talking about your album. How did that come a bout? What pr ompted the Br oken Social Scene Pr esents series?

PJ Sy k es: So is the idea that e ver yone adds their own f lavor and it becomes a Br oken Social Scene song?

B r en d en Ca n n i n g: It w as just a natur al cour se of action that w as happening. Ke vin had been r ecor ding a r ecor d, well he had been r ecor ding some songs, and I had done a couple at our friend Ohad’s studio, w ho is a sometimes member, but then most of w hat he seemed to be doing seemed to be mor e Kevin-centric. We had finished a big hunk of touring in 2006 and played our last show as it wer e. T hen at the beginning of 2007 my next-door neighbor, he has a studio not far fr om w her e we both live, so we star ted r ecor ding ther e. What w as gonna come

AS: So w hat defines it as your own? What makes it Br endan-centric? B C: It’s mor e that I would have the final say, as opposed to if we ar e all wor king on a song to gether, and we w ant to make sur e e ver yone is as ha ppy as can possibly be with the tr ac k. In this case I can say, you know, I think it’s done.

B C: Yeah. I mean ther e is no r eal for mula. T he band does their own thing; we eac h do our own thing, but we play the tunes fr om my r ecor d, the tunes fr om Ke vin’s r ecor d in our set, and we could have just as easily put those under a Br oken Social Scene ta g. I don’ t think anyone would be sitting in the audience saying hey, w ait a minute that sounds r eally dif ferent, because ultimately it’s not r eally dif fer ent. AS: Would you say that w hen you guys all wor k as Br oken Social Scene, as a w hole, that consensus is the main objective?

B C: No, I think having a good tune is the main objective. T her e’s lots of moments along the w ay w her e we’ ll ar gue a bout how a tune is going to come to gether, but ultimately, it’s not that we satisfy e ver yone, it’s the f act that you can listen to it fr om top to bottom and say if it’s a good tune or not. T hat’s r eally the main objective. AS: Would you say you take one of the mor e leading positions in that pr ocess? B C: I would say, yeah. I guess it depends. All over the cour se of our car eer it’s been r eal easy at lots of junctur es, but ther e’s been a fe w spots tr ying to complete the past two Br oken Social Scene r ecor ds w her e it has been mor e dif ficult since you have this many people involved. You do w hat you can. AS: I r ead a BSS inter vie w w her e Kevin Dr e w stated ‘If you’ r e going to get down to stating bands as rip-of f bands, then no one should make any mor e music. Original and dif fer ent ar e for the pompous ones – ther e’s nothing original or dif fer ent out ther e. It’s just dif fer ent takes, dif fer ent opinions, dif fer ent wor ds, dif fer ent lips. All the c hor ds, all the songs have been written thousands and thousands of times. It’s just pr esentation now.’ Would you say w hat’s left is r emixing, like Gir l Talk? B C: What did Gir l Talk do? AS: He makes mashups.

B C: Being a DJ on the side, I find mashups ar e inter esting for about for the fir st 20 seconds. When I DJ I just play songs, so w hen I w as playing house music I would wor k on mixing tr ac ks, but my objective w as quit dif ferent. Coming at it as a DJ, my objective w as I’m going to put on this r ecor d, and now I’m going to put on that r ecor d and mash the beats up and hope that w hate ver I come up with will be live and on the spot. You know, it’s not the most complicated thing being a house DJ sometimes, but you’ r e doing that r emixing on the spot. I just find that I lived thr ough maybe a couple mor e scenes and genr es than some of the ne wer cr op of bands, so I’m mor e inter ested in bands that just come and play – not so American A ppar el. T hat seems to be a f ashion. T he hipster s just look like American A ppar el ads. T hey do our t-shir ts, but I don’t necessarily subscribe. I don’ t pay attention to too many ne w bands unless they ar e r eally r oc king my soc ks of f. AS: What bands ar e r oc king your soc ks of f right now? B C: Ne w bands? Ar thur and Yu, I thought they wer e a good band. I hear d their r ecor d because it w as lying ar ound the of fice one day, so I gr a b bed it and took it home. We thought they would be a gr eat suppor ting act so we took them on tour last year. We have Land of Talk on this tour. T hey’ r e good. T hey ar e playing two rif fs with Liz singing over the top of that. T hat one tune w her e they wer e like (makes descriptive guitar sounds)… I also like Dr. Dog. AS: Ar e you planning to come out with mor e of your own albums?

B C: Well, you know, I pr oba bly have a long car eer as a musician ahead of me. I’m in good health and all that. So, yeah, we’ r e just getting star ted. AS: Is ther e anyone slated next on the Pr esents series? B C: No, but Char les, he’s going to showcase a little something. Our guitar player has his A postle of Hustle pr oject that he does. Well, band, not pr oject. Ohad, at the studio w her e I r ecor ded some of my r ecor d, he’s got his own r ecor d. So those ar e coming out on the little la bel we got out in Canada,

Ar ts and Cr afts, but nothing under the Pr esents thing. We had talked about doing some little bit of film wor k her e and ther e. Scor e stuf f. We had ideas of r eleasing some film wor k we’ ve done. Just didn’ t r eally take a high priority. T her e w as some stuf f on a har d drive that finally got opened. We’ r e sitting on music that’s either her e or ther e or ther e or ther e, so if someone r eally w anted to spearhead it, but right now we’ r e between kee ping this tour going and figuring out how we’ r e going to star t making a ne w r ecor d. Star ting a ne w r ecor d is the priority right now r ather than a bunc h of inter esting intr ospective pieces that wer e meant to be put to film, e ven though it’s inter esting listening. Our stuf f gets pic ked up for licensing all the time. Half Nelson is w her e it got the most notoriety, but lately we just kee p on getting pic ked up, fr om a Chilean documentar y to Ander son Cooper using it for some CNN stuf f. PJ S: What do you think a bout how we ar e heading tow ar d the downloading a ge? I just r ead an ar tic le that some major la bels wer e putting out music on a phone car d. B C: T he indie la bels will alw ays do the “buy the vinyl and you can get a fr ee download” thing. It’s good if you’ r e a vinyl buyer. I am. But I don’t have an iPod, so I’m not the best per son to ask, but T he Ver ve sent their ne w album on a phone. T he guys fr om Vice Magazine wer e saying cute idea, but I haven’t listened to it, because I got the album on a phone. I think major s ar e just tr ying to do w hate ver they can to kee p the boat af loat, but fr om w hen I star ted playing music and signing r ecor d deals in 1992 it’s a w hole dif fer ent ballgame. T her e ar e a lot less la bels than ther e wer e bac k then. CDs would alw ays get lost in the house. You would lend them out with less of a car e. I pr efer just sitting at home and listening. T hey have a little bit mor e width and br eadth to them. For some kids right now the concept of going out and buying music is for eign to them. T hat’s all you can hope for, that people suppor t music in ever y w ay, shape that’s comfor ta ble for them.

w w w .b ro k en s o c i a ls c en e.ca 5 3

Everything About the

You Fest

C u r t i s G r i m s t e a d | P h o t o s by K a r e n S e i f e r t

Ever Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask

G a i n e s v i l l e , a s m a l l l i t t l e t o w n i n N o r t h Fl o r i d a t h a t h a s opened its door s up to thousands of people that love p u n k r o c k t o c o m e t o i t ’ s o w n f e s t , d u b b e d T h e Fe s t , e v e r y O c t o b e r. T h e o n ly t h i n g i m p o r t a n t I l e a r n e d t h e r e was the difference of Budweiser American Ale and Americ a n L a ge r, bu t my g l a s s e s a l s o b r o k e i n h a l f w i t h o u t a go o d s t o r y, I m a n a ge d t o n o t ge t a h a n go v e r, a n d I s a w a n d m i s s e d a s h i t t o n o f go o d b a n d s. T h i s Fe s t b e g a n w i t h a p o o l p a r t y ( i t ’ s n o H a d a d s ) a t t h e H o l i d ay I n n , t h e s a m e o n e t h a t go t t r a s h e d l a s t ye a r. T h ey h a d t h i s h o t e l o n l o c k d o w n . Yo u h a d t o h a v e a s e p a r a t e p a s s f r o m T h e Fe s t p a s s j u s t t o b e i n t h e h o t e l a f t e r t h e p a r t y. I a r r i v e d a r o u n d 4 p. m . a n d r a n i n t o a n e s t o f my f r i e n d s w h o h a d a l r e a dy go t t e n w a s t e d , h a l f n a k e d a n d bl a c k e d o u t b e fo r e a b a n d h a d e v e n p l aye d . I ran into one of these cats around 9 that night, and h e h a d a l r e a dy p a s s e d o u t a n d w a s h a v i n g a h a n go v e r a l r e a dy.

t h e ly r i c s t o e v e r y s o n g a n d r a ge for it. After Ringer s and Chinese Tele phones I made my w ay to the Atlantic , w hic h is pr oba bly the coolest venue in Gainesville, to c hec k out Ghastly City Slee p. GCS consist of member s fr om City of Cater pillar, Majority Rule, and ¡A peshit!, but sound c loser to R adiohead than Bor n Ag ainst. T he band pac ked the Atlantic and played their best show that I have seen to date – kids wer e stoked. Next up w as Br ainwor ms at the venue, 1982. 1982 is smaller than the Atlantic , w her e Br ainwor ms have played the past two year s, but it did not stop kids fr om pac king in the bar, and w hoe ver could not get in w atc hed fr om the outside. Even at a smaller venue ther e w as no lac k of ener g y w hen they played compar ed to the pr e vious year s. Tr ying to catc h Tuber s w as impossible since so many bands play c lose to gether at dif fer ent venues, and this w as the case for Tuber s and Br ainwor ms. I got to the Atlantic and thought I w as going to see Tuber s, seeing that they wer e on sta ge. I got stoked and r ealized 10 minutes later that they had just played and wer e not a bout to play a g ain. So f ar I had missed the c hance to see my friends in their assor ted bands fr om St. A ugustine play thr ee times.

T h e f i r s t b a n d o n my l i s t w a s B o s t o n’ s R i n ge r s, w h o p l ay J a w b r e a k e r- e s k p o p p u n k t h a t h a s m o r e e n e r g y t h a t e v e r y o t h e r b a n d t h a t s o u n d a ny t h i n g l i k e J a w b r e a k e r. O n c e R i n ge r s s t a r t e d p l ay i n g, o n e o f t h e t h i n g s I l o v e a b o u t T h e Fe s t h a p p e n e d : yo u ge t t o s e e a b a n d t h a t w o u l d p l ay R i c h m o n d t o m ay b e 5 0 p e o p l e w h o b o p t h e i r h e a d s, p l ay t o a r o o m f i l l e d w i t h 5 0 0 p e o p l e w h o k n o w

I then took the dr unken quest on foot to the ne w venue for this year called the Kic kstand. T his w as the spot. It w as like the Bike Lot in the f act that it w as a bike spot in a w ar ehouse ar ea. My home boys Dynamite Ar r ows wer e playing, and it w as tight to see them play w hat w as pr oba bly going to be their last show for a w hile. After Dynamite Ar r ows I w alked along aimlessly and looked for bands to see but w as alr eady bur nt out for the night.

I got wor d of w hat w as pr oba bly going to be the coolest thing of the w hole Fest. Paint it Blac k wer e going to be playing a show in the bac k of a U-Haul tr uc k in the par king lot acr oss fr om the main venue after that show w as over. I w alked over to the par king lot, r an into a bunc h of dudes I kne w and r ealized this shit w as fo’ r eal. A U-Haul r olled up and w as opened. Lying ther e w as all the equipment to do this shit. At the same time between 300-500 kids came and g ather ed ar ound the tr uc k. Paint it Blac k be g an to play, and not e ven one minute into the fir st song all the power ble w and it became just the dr ums. Her e is the awesomeness that is punk r oc k: the dr ummer ke pt playing the song and ther e wer e hundr eds of kids singing e ver y wor d of the song e ven though it had gone to shit. People star ted to jump of f the top of the tr uc k into the cr ow d, e ven after the fir st song. People star t singing in unison another Paint it Blac k song but then a bunc h of cops came and ended it. T her e should be some stuf f online a bout this so c hec k it out. Come thr ee in the mor ning I am drinking a milkshake fr om Steak and Shake, and I have no c lue how and w hy. Satur day, it’s 10 in the mor ning, w hat the fuc k am I doing up? Tur ns out ther e is a badass house show acr oss town featuring none other than Br ainwor ms, Pink R azor s, Amper e and Cult Ritual. T her e wer e so many people ther e as soon as Pink R azor s played (w ho wer e fir st) that I and maybe 50 other people couldn’ t e ven fit in the house. Instead of beer and pizza, e ver yone had cof fee and ba gels. It Fr om l eft to right: Ghast ly C it y Sle e p, Le s s T ha n J a k e , B r id ge and Tunne l, Wo r n in Re d , Mouthbr eather, Land m ine s, a nd Le m ur ia .

c lear ed out just enough after Pink R azor s played to get an all right spot for Br ainwor ms. It w asn’ t as wild as the night befor e, but I would say that kids wer e as equally stoked a bout seeing Br ainwor ms at this show. T her e w as a cof fee shop a bloc k fr om the house and the gir ls wor king had these looks on their f aces like they had ne ver seen this kind of business befor e. I don’ t think that they had e ver seen so many dir ty w hite people in line for cof fee in their stor e’s existence. Amper e and Cult Ritual played, kids went cr azy and my head w asn’ t r eady to hear music that loud at the moment, so I just c hilled outside. Her e came the r eal sur prise. T he band Cheek y showed up and ended up playing. I had ne ver seen them, but they wer e the shit! Cheek y ar e comprised of a younger gr oup of gir ls and a dude, and play mor e solid punk r oc k then most bands that ar e 10 year s older than them. A ppar ently they br oke up though, w hic h suc ks. Bac k down to the actual Fest, people wer e all over the str eets of Gainesville in assor ted bar s and r estr aints, slowly making their w ay into venues. Mouthbr eather w as playing down the str eet fr om the pub I w as in, so I got to see them play pr oba bly their best set as a band. After them it w as countless bands that sounded like the other bands, and I honestly didn’ t gi ve a fuc k until Coalesce played. Coalesce ar e/wer e a band that I have been tr ying to see for 10 year s, this is one of the bands I would piss my par ents of f with by listening to it to loud instead of doing my home wor k. In the 90s Coalesce set themselves a par t fr om your aver a ge har dcor e or metal band with unique vocals and bass dri ven jams. T he band at T he Fest w as

as heavy and pissed of f as I would of e ver hoped. At one point vocalist Sean Ingr am (w ho w as c hug ging Jac k in between songs) just thr e w his mic stand down and jumped out in the cr ow d and got just as r ow dy with e ver yone as he should have. It kinda summed up how pissed their music is. T he band played a good collection of songs fr om their car eer, and one that is going to be on a ne w album a ppar ently. Stoked! After getting that out of my system it w as time to c hec k out Ar malite and Pink R azor s. Ar malite for those w ho ar en’ t f amiliar with them ar e Atom and His Pac ka ge and Dan Yemin’s (Lifetime, Kid Dynamite) pop punk band. T hey had some ridiculous sta ge banter that I wish I could r emember, but guitarist Mike McKee did a ve g an r a p that you should tr y to find on YouTube or something. Pink R azor s wer e up next; it w as spectacular getting to see these guys play a g ain. T he band played a bunc h of ne w songs of f their ne w LP and ended with “Fine Food,” w hic h made the cr ow d go nuts. I tried to make it to the Kic kstand to see Allig ator, w hic h is some of my buddies fr om St. A ugustine. I got ther e just in time to see two songs and successfully missed all the bands fr om St. A ugustine pr etty muc h. By the time they wer e done it w as of f to 1982 to see Catalyst and Antler s. Catalyst seemed to play mor e ne w songs than old songs – Ric hmond be pr e par ed, these ne w songs rip. Antler s played a solid set that I have seen on many Best of Fest lists. I r an out w hile Antler s wer e playing to go catc h Municipal Waste, w hic h as you expect w as cr azy as shit. I had br oken my glasses the night befor e and w asn’ t a ble to completely make out w hat w as going on, but I know that Tony jumped on top of the PA, w hic h w as pr oba bly

a good 10 feet plus high and dove into the cr ow d. It w as pr etty badass; kids wer e loving it. One of the main highlights of T he Fest is seeing Dillinger Four play. I had ne ver seen them at T he Fest, and this is pr oba bly their best show e ver y year fr om w hat I’ ve hear d. T hey star ted playing and it looked like e ver y kid in the r oom kne w e ver y wor d to e ver y song, e ven the ne w ones! T hey outdid themselves fr om the show in Ric hmond the week befor e, playing an e ven mor e di ver se set of songs that spanned their w hole car eer. T her e w as a huge do g pile of kids just stor ming the sta ge, fighting for w ho got to be in the fr ont. Of cour se, w hen they played their big zinger “Double w hiskeycokenoice” shit went insane. Pr etty muc h after seeing D4, T he Fest w as made for me. I tried to w atc h some mor e bands but just did not have it in me anymor e. So instead of w aiting for a ride to the hotel I went for the 30-bloc k w alk, w hic h kinda suc ked, but it builds c har acter. On Sunday I only got to catc h thr ee bands since we had to leave ear ly this year. Religious as Fuc k played at a place that looked mor e like the Fest Hause at Bush Gar dens than a c lub. It e ven had some silly light that moved with the music. A ppar ently a band called Jawesome played befor e them, and they play spring br eak har dcor e. T his might be something wor th looking into. Josh Small played a huge show in Common Gr ounds that e ven though ther e wer e hundr eds of people ther e it w as still as c hill as if he w as playing in your li ving r oom. Lastly I got to see the Ar ri v als, w hic h ar e pr oba bly one of the best bands ar ound right now, and they wer e a gr eat w ay to c lose T he Fest for me.

EI RD SC IEN CE MIX L aur en Vincelli

H e a r t his m ix a nd m o r e a t http://www.last.fm/user/RVAmix . Se nd f e e d b a c k t o la ur e n@ r v a m a g. c o m - LV

1 . T hey M ig ht B e Gia nt s 2 . B e ula h 3 . Ar r a h a nd t he Fe r ns 4 . R ilo Kiley 5 . Kimy a D a w s o n 6 . King s o f Le o n 7 . J a w b r e a k e r 8 . D illinge r Fo ur 9 . D e a d K e nne dy s 1 0 . T ho m a s D o lby 1 1 . D o e s it Of f e nd Yo u, Ye ah? 1 2 . B la c k a lic io us 1 3 . Go r illa z 1 4 . Je r u t he D a m a ja 1 5 . M o s D e f 1 6 . T he C ine m a t ic Or c he s t r a 1 7 . Int e r p o l 1 8 . To k yo Po lic e C lub 1 9 . So ul C o ug hing 2 0 . Oingo B o ingo

“ W hy D o e s t he Su n Shine ?” “ M a t t e r v s. Sp a c e ” “ Sc ie nc e B o o k s ” “ Sc ie nc e v s. Ro m a nc e ” “ C he m is t r y ” “ G e nius ” “ C he m is t r y ” “ O ur Sc ie nc e is T ig ht ” “ We ll Pa id Sc ie nt is t ” “ B lind e d m e w it h Sc ie nc e ” “ We ir d Sc ie n c e ” “ C he m ic a l C a lis t he nic s ” “ N e w G e nius ” (f e a t . B r o t he r ) “ Sc ie nt if ic a l M a d ne s s ” “ M a t he m a t ic s ” “ Sc ie nc e F ic t io n J a z z ” “ Re s t M y C he m is t r y ” “ N a t ur e o f t he Ex p e r im e nt ” “ So Fa r I H a v e N o t Fo und t he Sc ie nc e ” “ We ir d Sc ie n c e ”

Why Does the Sun Shine, EP When Your Hear tstrings Br eak Ev an is Ve g an Take Of fs and Landings My Cute Fiend Sweet Princess Youth and Young Manhood Dear You Hopelessly De voted to You, Vol. 3 Plastic Sur ger y Disaster s - In God We Tr ust, Inc. T he Golden Age of Wir eless Weir d Science Blazing Ar r ow Gorillaz Wr ath of the Math Blac k on Both Sides Motion Our Love To Admir e A Lesson in Crime Ber lin/Amster dam 1997 Best O’ Boingo

No v e m b e r 2 2 n d w i l l b e a C D r e l e a s e a n d m e m o r i a l s h o w fo r o u r d e a r f r i e n d Na t h a n J o y c e . Na t h a n â&#x20AC;&#x2122; s f r i e n d s a n d fe l l o w m u s i c i a n s w i l l g a t h e r t o g e t h e r t o p e r fo r m c o v e r s o f s o n g s h e w r o t e d u r i n g h i s l i fe . B e c a u s e Na t h a n h a s h a d s u c h a p r o fo u n d presence in our lives we (his friends) refuse to allow his death to go unnoticed. This show is not just a memorial, it is a b o u t c o n t i n u i n g h i s l e g a c y, a l l o w i n g Na t h a n t o l i v e b e y o n d h i s p h y s i c a l b o d y. H e will continue to be as long as we listen t o h i s m u s i c , w a t c h h i m i n r i d i c u l o u s D ay b y D ay s k i t s a n d r e m e m b e r t h e a m a z i n g person he is. S o j o i n u s No v e m b e r 2 2 n d a t G a l l e r y 5 a t 8 p . m . ( fo r r e a l ) a s w e r a i s e g l a s s e s a n d voices to our friend. Even if you never m e t Na t h a n , c o m e , t a k e a C D a n d g e t t o k n o w s o m e o n e w h o i s t r u ly w o r t h k n o w ing. - Jameson Price 59

c o lum n I b it c he d a b o ut t he Re d s k ins na m e . Sud d e nly, t he r e I w as, in D et r oit , a t t he ‘ Sk ins g a m e , a nd a n id e a blo a t e d lik e a p ho s p h o r e scent mushr oom in t he d a n k c a v e r ns o f my m ind . T he r e , o n t he s p o t , I a p point ed mys elf RVA Ma g azine ’ s ex c lus i v e Re d s k ins r e p o r t e r. So f r o m no w o n, this is a spor ts c o lum n! At l e a s t fo r t hi s m o nt h. O k ay, he r e w e go !

Fe d Ex F i e ld S u c ks ! D a ve B r o c kie

For the last couple weeks I ha v e b e e n t r y ing t o f ig ur e o ut ex a c t ly w ha t t h e he ll my m onthly c olum n is go ing t o b e a b o ut . I w a nt e d t o d o a m o nt hly “ r a nt ” thing but then thought that w a s a p r e t t y la m e id e a … I m e a n, my nex t a r t ic l e w as gonna be a bout Ukr op ’ s. Ev e r y b o dy k n o w s t ha t U k r o p ’ s is Sa t a n, a n d e ver ybody bitc hes a bout the m , a nd e v e r y b o dy s ho p s t he r e a ny w ay, b e c a us e they don’ t w ant wor ms in t he ir fo o d . So s c r e w t ha t id e a . T he n I t ho ug ht it might be cute if I did a GWAR t o ur d ia r y, b e c a us e r ig h t no w I ha p p e n t o b e o u t o n tour with GWAR, and I ha p p e n t o b e t he ir le a d s inge r, s o c o o l, le t ’ s d o a n other fric kin’ tour diar y (I’ v e d o ne a b o ut 1 0 a lr e a dy ) a ll a b o ut ho w s o m e o n e took a d ump in the bo g (a no - no ! ) o r ho w o ur g ay bus d r i v e r ha s go u t in hi s foot (the one on the accele r a t o r ). B o r ing ! H e r e I w a s, a d ay a ft e r d e a d l ine , a nd still nothing to bitc h (o r w r it e ) a b o ut . T ha t ’ s jus t no t m e ! L a st night we blasted Detr o it a t t he c la s s ic v e nue H a r p o s (a c t ua lly built o ut of dried puke). After the sho w I s t aye d in t o w n t o go s e e my b e lov e d Re d s k in s play the Lions at the team’ s b r a nd ne w s t a d ium , Fo r d F ie ld . I n la s t m o nt h’ s 62

D e t r o it ha s o nly o ne d e c e nt p a r t – t he d o w nt o w n a r e a . T he av aila ble funds w e r e c ha nne le d he r e a nd t he r e s t o f t he c it y w a s le f t t o s lump int o r uin. One o f t he c o r ne r s t o ne s o f t he d o w nt o w n’ s r e b ir t h is t he ne w home of the Lions, Fo r d F ie ld . G e t t ing t o t he s t a d ium w a s e a s y, a nd o nc e yo u get ther e you ar en’ t in t he m id d le o f no w he r e . Ev e r y w he r e yo u lo o k e d t he s tr eet s w er e f ull of p e o p le ha ng ing o ut a t v a r io u s b a r s b e fo r e t he g a m e o r ju st str olling ar ound, e njoy ing t he e a r ly f a ll s uns hine . I n f a c t , I c o uld n’ t e v e n s e e t he s t adium! T he build in g is d e s ig ne d t o lo o k jus t lik e t he s ur r o und ing w a r ehouses and blends in p e r f e c t ly. T his l e a d s t o a l- Q a e d a s uic id e blim p - b o m b er s getting totally c o nf us e d ! As s ur e d t ha t t his w a s ind e e d a s t a d ium , I fo llow ed t he hor des of blue a n d s ilv e r f a ns a nd e nt e r e d Fo r d F ie ld … Wit hin f i v e s e c o nd s o f ge t t ing in I r e a liz e d t his p la c e w a s unlike any stadium I ha d e v e r b e e n in. T he f ie ld is ind o o r s a nd is lo w e r t ha n str eet le vel, so it’s lik e a b o w l ha s b e e n s c o o p e d o ut o f t he e a r t h w it h t he p laying s urf ace at t he b o t t o m . Se a t s s ur r o u nd t he f ie ld in t y p ic a l f a s hio n, but t he r e wer e wide ar eas w he r e yo u c o uld jus t ha ng o ut b e fo r e t a k ing yo ur s e a t a nd s t ill s ee t he g ame. I w a s t a k ing it a ll in w h e n a g uy w e a r ing a L io ns s hir t c a me up to me... me w e a r ing my C o o l ey je r s ey. B u t i ns t e a d o f a t o r r e nt o f v e rbal a buse, the guy g a v e m e t w o f r e e t ic k e t s t o t he s p e c ia l “ C lub ” le v e l, w hic h he had won fr om a lo c a l r a d io s t a t io n a nd d id n’ t ne e d . Wo w ! D e t r o it p e o p le ar e cool! I f I had b e e n in P hilly w e a r ing Re d s k in c o lo r s I w o uld ha v e go t t e n s t a b bed! So I t a k e my s e a t a nd it hit s m e … t his p la c e is a m a z ing ! T hough it ’ s indoor s, t he c e iling is m a d e o f t r a ns luc e nt p a ne ls t h a t le t in m uc h of the natur al lig h t . T he s e a t ing i s w e ll p la nne d : no blind s p o t s o r blo c ked sight lines. At

e a c h e nd of the field, a huge T V hung, o f f e r ing a n im m a c ula t e r e p lay o f eac h down. I often found my s e lf s t a r ing a t t he m fo r lo ng p e r io d s o f t im e , completely obli vious to the a c t io n o f t he f ie ld . T his p la c e w a s g r e a t ! T hey e ven had one of those awes o m e “ he lm e t c a m s ” . And t he n, t he c a p p e r … c u p ho lde r s on e v er y seat! It’s t he lit t le t hing s t ha t s ho w yo u c a r e . T he o nly thing that didn’ t ma k e s e ns e (b e s id e s t he Lio ns no t hav ing c he e r le a d e r s) w as that they had t his s t a d ium ! B e c a us e t he Lio ns a r e a bunc h o f bums! Winless this season, d e v o id o f ho p e o r r e d e m p t io n, t he L i o ns ge t one of the nicest stadiums in fo o t b a ll. B ut t ha t ’ s no t r e a lly w hat p is s e d m e o f f. Eve r y team deser v es a go o d s t a d ium … it ’ s jus t t ha t t he Re ds k ins d o n’ t ha ve o ne! T he ‘Skins play at FedEx Fie ld . I ha t e Fe d Ex F ie l d . I ha t e it a lm o s t a s m uc h a s I ha te the nam e of the te a m . And I d id n’ t r e a liz e jus t ho w m uc h I ha t e d it until I visited the Lions’ sta d ium . B e c a us e it r ule s ! T her e ar e many r easons t o ha t e Fe d Ex F ie ld . T he f i r s t is t he lo c a t io n. L a nd over, Mar y land? Ex c us e m e . T he s e a r e t he WASH IN G TON Re d s k in s, no t the Mar yland Redskins; this is n’ t t he R a v e ns, fo r go d ’ s s a k e . P lus, L a nd ov e r is a scum hole, a c r usty sc a b o f build ing s a nd d e b r is c ling ing t o D. C . ’ s e a s t er n beltw ay. I used to go to g a m e s a t R F K St a d ium , a nd t ha t p la c e R O C K ED. RFK w as located in D.C ., and w a s a t r ue r e f le c t io n o f t he c it y ’ s v ib r a n t a n d di ver se cultur e. Landover is a c e s s p o o l, a nd no ne o f t he p e o p le w ho go t o the g am es li ve ther e. So t he c r o w d h a s t ur ne d int o a bunc h o f y u p w a r d ly mobile joc k dumbasses tha t t hink no t hing o f ur ina t ing r ig ht in f r o nt o f yo u. Afte r a ll , THEY don’ t li v e the r e . Pis s o n! To make matter s wor se, it’s r e a lly ha r d t o ge t t he r e ! Yo u c a n d r i v e a nd ge t caught in hour s of tr af fic , a nd t he n p ay t o ns o f c a s h t o p a r k a b o ut a m i le fr om the stadium… or tak e t he M e t r o, ge t d r o p p e d o f f a b o u t a m ile a w ay and have to w alk up a hill a ll t he w ay t o t he e nt r a nc e . Fo r ge t b r ing ing yo u r

e l d e r ly m o m o r w he e lc ha ir- b o und f r ie nd … t hey ’ ll d ie ! B ut could they make t ha t e v e n m o r e ind e t e r m ina ble w a lk up t he hill e v e n m o r e annoying? Yes ! B y d r a p ing o ur s t a d ium in g ig a nt ic t a p e s t r ie s d e p ic t ing t he c or por at e color s of Fe d e r a l Ex p r e s s … no t t he c la s s ic bur g undy a nd go ld o f one of the N.F.L.’s m o s t illus t r io us f r a nc his e s, but t he b r o w n, p ur p le a nd p uk e (ar en’ t t hos e t he R a v e ns ’ c o lo r s ? ) o f o u r c o r p o r a t e m a s t e r s ! Yo u c a n c o nt e mplat e your t eam’ s w ho r e d o m t o b ig bus ine s s a s yo u p us h yo u r c r ip p le d m o t her all the w ay up t ha t c r a p p ing hi ll! O nc e ins id e , t he s t a d ium ha s o ne la s t p r o ble m , a nd it ’ s a doozy. I n t he Reds k ins o w ne r ’ s q ue s t t o s e ll a s m a ny t ic k e t s a s p o s s ible , t he place is laid out in r i ng s o f s e a t s s t a c k e d a t o p e a c h o t he r, a nd if yo u a r e unluc k y enough to sit c lo s e t o t he b a c k o f o ne o f t he s e r ing s, yo ur v ie w is go ing to be limited by the ov e r ha ng ing lip o f t he r ing a b ov e yo u. N o t t o m e nt io n t he suppor ting pillar s s t a c k e d r ig ht in f r o nt o f yo u, c o m p le t e ly o b s c u r ing t he f ie ld. But w ait, ther e’s a g ia nt T V yo u c a n w a t c h … N OT ! Sur e , t he r e is O N E, m e aning that it’s only v is ible t o 7 0 % o f t h e c r o w d , a n d a lo t o f t he m a r e go ing t o be vie wing it fr om a c o m p le t e ly ina d e q ua t e s id e a ng le . I t ho ug ht t hey p a id a r c hit ect s a lot of money t o d e s ig n build ing s t ha t d id n’ t s uc k ! B e c a us e Fe d Ex F ie ld does ! T his m ig ht s e e m lik e a lo t o f b it c hi ng a b o u t n o t hing, but for Redskins f ans it ’ s a r e a l bur ne r. M o s t f a ns a r e no t s e a s o n t ic k e t ho ld e r s and r ar ely get the c ha nc e t o go t o t he g a m e s. I t ’ s a b ig e v e nt a nd fo r m a ny a once-in-a-lif et ime o p p o r t unit y. So yo u c o u ld s p e nd a lo t o f m o n ey, t im e a nd ef for t to go to the g a m e , a nd c o nc e i v a bly e nd up w it h a s e a t t ha t yo u c a n o nly see a bout 50% o f t he f ie ld f r o m a nd no ne o f t he g ia nt T V ! I n L a nd ov e r no less! Beneath the b a r f y b a nne r s o f c o r p o r a t e w h o r e d o m ! Wit h no ha n d ic a p access! And all the w hile D a n Snyd e r a nd To m C r uis e a r e m a k ing - o ut in t he s k y box , FedEx ing plas t ic b a g g ie s o f t he ir s p e r m t o o ld la d ie s ! And if t his c o m p let ely unacce pt a ble c o nd it io n is n’ t e no ug h t o m a k e yo u g a g o n yo ur e ig ht - d o llar pr et zel, jus t r em e m b e r t ha t t he D e t r o it L io ns, t he p e r p e t ua lly c e lla r- d w e lling, cr a ppiest team in t he N . F. L . , ha s a s t a d ium t ha t p ut s o ur s t o s ha m e ! W T F ? 63

Indian Summ e r t r e m b l i n g r efl ec t i o n s o f a l o n g , w et r i d e w i t h S ev en H i l ls S c o o t e r c lu b Wo r d s and ima ges by Pr e s t on D unc a n

I c lose my eyes Sunday nig ht t o t he linge r ing e c h o e s o f r e vv ing e n g ine s d r ifting like blue sm oke fr om t he s t uf f o f M a in St r e e t a nd d r e am s. Sho ut s muf f le d by helm ets and c lin k ing g la s s e s s p ill o ut f r o m t he s ub c o ns c io us e t he r and scatter like duc kpins a c r o s s t he s p r a w ling p a no r a m a s o f r e c e nt m e m o r y a nd Ri ver side Dri v e. It’s b e e n t w o d ay s s inc e t he m e e t a nd g r e et a t Po p k in’ s Ta ve r n, and although I’m sur e I’ v e s le p t , t his is t he f ir s t t im e I c a n r e m e m b e r lying do w n sinc e the 7 Hills Sc o o t e r C lub ’ s 3 r d Annua l I nd ia n Sum m e r R a lly be g an. I ge t to Popkin’s ear ly Frid ay nig ht w it h $2 0 a nd no r a in ge a r, t he o nly c e r ta intie s for the weekend be ing r a in a nd b e e r. As a f a ir ly ne w s c o o t e r r id e r, the conce pt of a r ally is s t ill a m o r p ho us, i nfo r m e d o n ly by a b b r e v ia t e d b a r sp e a k a nd a v a gue itiner ar y p o s t e d o n t he 7 H ills w e b p a ge . T he o r g a niz er s have r eser ved the sec o n d f lo o r o f t he t a v e r n fo r us, a d e c e nt s p a c e with a p ool ta ble and big c o uc h e s. B y 9 p. m . t he r e a r e s o m e w he r e a r o u nd 30 bike s out fr ont and a go o d buz z a b o ut a nig ht r id e a nd e v e nt ua l t r ip t o Av alon. T he cr ow d is a str a nge m ix o f s ub c ult u r a l id e nt it ie s a nd ge ne r a t io ns : Ric hmond hipster s toasting w it h m id d le - a ge d ge a r he a d s a nd m o d - m ov e m e nt thr owbac ks in par kas, subur b a nit e g a s m ile a ge e nt hus ia s t s le a ning a g a ins t the b a nis ter with ar t student s, r id e r s f r o m N o r fo lk , N o r t h C a r o lina a nd Pe nn sylv ania c hatting with Manc he s t e r lo f t d w e lle r s a nd Fa n k id s w ho jus t a s easily could have w alked. B y 1 0 : 3 0 p. m . he lm e t s a r e b e ing ho is t e d f r o m their positions on the wind o w s ill a nd r e p la c e d by e m p t y p int g la s s e s a s t h e g r oup m oti v ates for the fir s t r id e o f t he w e e k e nd . Ro ut e o f t r a ve l: unk no w n. My medium of par ticipation: a r u s t y 1 9 8 1 Ve s p a P 2 0 0 E w it h 1 9 8 c c s a nd a temper amental c lutc h.

iz a t io n o f a b s t r a c t ex p r e s s io ni s m . W he n w e ge t t o Av a lo n the w aitr ess sets t w o s ix p a c k s o f P B R o n t he t a ble a nd t e lls us t o e njoy, and as the e vening b e g ins t o lo s e it s fo r m , t he w e e k e nd s t a r t s t a k ing s ha p e . ------------I ge t t o G lo b e H o p p e r a r o und 1 0 : 3 0 a . m . , ha lf a n ho ur late and the thir d to s ho w. D a v e “ M unny ” , o ne o f t he o r g a n iz e r s o f t h e r a l ly, is alr eady ther e, c o m m e nt ing in a ll s inc e r it y o n my p unc t ua lit y. I t i s n’ t r aining yet, but the c lo ud s a r e fo r m ing o m ino us c o ng r e g a t io ns a b ov e C hur c h Hill. An hour and a ha lf a nd t w o s h o t s o f e s p r e s s o la t e r w e ge a r up fo r the longes t ride of t he r a lly, a 4 0 - m ile t o ur o f a ll t he r o a d s a nd s c e ne r y d e emed as neces s ar y ex p e r ie nc e fo r a ny b ip e d p ilo t t o c o m e t hr o ug h R i v e r C ity. T he sk y is no lo nge r m a k ing t he id le t hr e a t s o f inc le m e nc y a s it ha d w hen I ar ri ved, but

We set of f in sta g ger for m a t io n he a d ing w e s t , t he lo ng line o f s c o o t e r s expa nd ing and c ontr ac ting fo r s t o p lig ht s a nd t he us ua l Fr id ay nig ht p a c e o f Br o a d St r eet, a snaking jumble o f p la s t ic a nd s t e e l d r if t ing la z ily a c r o s s t o w n in an e ver e volving constella t io n o f he a d lig ht s a nd r e f le c t i v e r id ing ja c k e t s. By the time we stop of f a t t he C o m fo r t I nn t o le t w e a r y o ut - o f - t o w ne r s t o their beds, it’s r aining, the s p la t t e r ing d r o p le t s c a t c hing r e f le c t io ns o f r e d ta il lights and str eaking the m a c r o s s my he lm e t v is o r lik e s o m e w e ir d ur b a n 65

se ttle d into the kind of slow s m o o t h d r iz z le t ha t a s s e r t s a s e ns e o f d r o w s y p e r m a ne nc e . As I pull a c hea p plastic po nc ho ov e r my a r m o r e d ja c k e t , M unny lo o k s b a c k a t m e f r o m his c l a ss ic Vespa 150 Sup e r (k no w n ge ne r a lly a s t he Sup e r Po o p e r ) a nd s ay s “ Yo u’ r e gonna hate that.” T he ride launc hes itself to w a r d s O r e go n H ill, my p o nc ho f la p p ing in t h e w ind b e hind m e and sounding like a detail o f v e r y lo w f ly ing he lic o p t e r s. We f ile int o H o lly w o o d C e m e t e r y like som e bizar r e funer al p r o c e s s io n, m ov ing p a s t s o le m n c i v il w a r r e - e na c t o r s a nd t he ir mini v ans, wr a pped suddenly in t he blue c lo ud s o f bur ning t w o - s t r o k e o il a nd v ib r a t i ng in side vie w mir r or s like w ave r in g g r a v ey a r d a p p a r it io ns. T he p a t h is s lip p e r y a n d c ov e r e d with wet leaves, w hic h ar e lik e o il s lic k s t o a 1 0 - inc h w he e l. If yo u’ v e e v e r w a t c he d a c lass of be ginning ice skate r s, yo u p r o b a bly ha v e s o m e id e a o f w h a t it lo o k s l ik e w he n a gr oup ride goes thr ough a t ur n a nd o ne p e r s o n g r a c e f ully s k id s o ut . Ev acuating the hazar ds of t he c e m e t e r y, w e hit R i v e r s id e D r i v e , s t r e t c hing o ut t he s p a c e between us to safely take in t he e p ic la n d s c a p e o f his t o r y a lo ng t he b a nk s o f t he J a m e s. We end the ride at Scoot R ic hm o nd in M a nc he s t e r. C he l s e a , t he p r o p r ie t o r a nd a r a lly o r g a nizer (w ho w as featur e d in a b o o k c a lle d Sc o o t e r s : Re d Eye s, W hit e w a lls a nd B lue Smoke as an example of the q uint e s s e nt ia l “ s c o o t e r g ir l” ) i s w ait ing w it h a v a t o f v e g a n c hili, a t ub of pulled por k b a r b e q u e , a n d t h r e e c a s e s o f Yue ng ling. Scooterists satiated, the st a r t o f a d ig it a l c a m e r a s c a v e nge r hunt is d e c la r e d . I t e a m up

w it h R ic k , a s e lf - d e s c r ib e d no n- r a c is t s k inhe a d with a ska f etish a n d a ne w 5 0 c c B ud dy, a nd t w o g uy s na m e d Dave, one of w hic h r i d e s a B ud dy 1 5 0 . T he o t he r, k no w n by f r iends and most bar p a t r o ns in R ic hm o nd a s Sup e r D a v e , is o n a ne w R attler, a kind o f d ir t b ik e inf lue nc e d s c o o t w it h a ll t he f la s hy fiber glass a ppeal o f t he m o d e r n s c o o t e r s c e ne . Sup e r D a v e w a s perha ps the fir st p e r s o n I e v e r k ne w w it h a s c o o t e r. We m e t 6 year s a go, befor e a s t e p - t hr o ug h c ha s s is w a s a ub iq uit o us e le m e nt of our cit y’ s r oadw ay s. At t he t im e I c o n s id e r e d his b ik e (a nd s cooter s in gener al, c la s s ic s ho w p ie c e s a s id e ) t o b e a b a s ic a lly geek y t r ans por t , an unf a t ho m a ble c o p o ut f r o m r id ing a m o t o r c yc le . Dave being older, p r e s um a bly w is e r, a nd a n una s s a ila bly c o o l g uy, seemed to pull it o f f, but I a s s um e d t ha t t o b e t he t e r r it o r y o f people w hos e popu la r it y p r e c e d e d t he ir s c o o t e r. At t he t im e , I m ay have been right. We r e t ur n w it h a c a m e r a f ull o f p ic t ur e s : us w ith a stripper, with a c o p, o n o ur s c o o t e r s a t t he t o p o f t he s t a ir s leading into Main St r e e t St a t io n, a ll it e m s o n a v e r y lo ng a nd r andom c hec k lis t of p o t e nt ia l (a nd o c c a s io na lly ille g a l) t a r ge t s. We’ r e also pac king a bus ine s s c a r d s ig ne d by a g uy w ho r id e s w it h the Hell’s Angels, a fo r t une c o o k ie a nd a 4 0 o f P B R – t hing s lis t e d under t he “ s ouvenir s ” p o r t io n o f t he hunt l is t .

- - - - - - - - - ---Satur day night be gins at Ro s ie C o nn o lly ’ s in Sho c k o e B o t t o m , a n d ends acr oss the 17th Str e e t Fa r m e r ’ s M a r k e t a t L uL u’ s, w he r e Super Dave and a man kno w n a s T he P r o f e s s o r f e e d m e “ s c o o t e r sho ote r s ”, a v odka/peac h/c r a nb e r r y c o nc o c t io n a nd Ind ia n Sum mer drink special. T he r ally is a t f ull p it c h no w, no hint o f t he ear ly e v ening moder ation t ha t p la g ue d t he Po p k in’ s ic e b r e a k e r. T he a ir is thic k with sm oke a nd no s t a lg ia . T he a ge ing m o d s a r e cr itiquing the historic al ac cur a c y o f e a c h o t he r ’ s c lo t he s (f ir s t o f all, ya tr ouser s shouldn’ t m a t c h y a s ho e s, yo ur la p e ls a r e e nt ir ely too wide), the ster eo slur s o ut a lo n g line o f D e s m o n d D e c k e r tunes and the Tr ask painting s o n t he w a ll a lm o s t s w ay w it h t he hips of the gir ls at the ba r, a nd I ha v e no id e a w ha t I ’ m t a lk in g a bout. I end up on top o f t he M a nc he s t e r L o f t s, w a t c hing t he citysca pe as though it wer e t he c lim a c t ic fo c a l p o int o f a v e r y long film. What is this str a nge p he no m e no n t ha t ha s s p it m e o u t soaking wet and sav a gely d r unk ? So m e w he r e b e t w e e n t he r e a lm s of car shows, motor c yc le r a llie s a nd e nv ir o nm e nt a l c o nv e n t io n s ma nife st s the sc ooter r ally, inv igo r a t e d by t he d um b luc k o f f a s h ion and an imminent f uel cr is i s, c lo g g ing t h e s t r e e t lik e a p r o t e s t

a g a ins t SU V s a nd b o r e d o m , a s lo w m ov ing blo c k p a r t y fo r t he r e s ident s of a ha ppen s t a nc e c o unt e r c ult ur e . ------------Sund ay : t he d uc k p in e p ilo g ue is a b r unc h a nd b o w l m e e t up a t So ut hs ide P laza. T he w e e k e nd ’ s la s t f e w p it c he r s o f P B R a r e c ir c ula t e d w it h b a s k e t s o f Fr e nc h f ries and bow l ing s ho e s. T he ge ne r a l m o o d i s o ne o f c o nt e nt e d ex ha us t io n. Sp e e c h is a lit t le s of t er a nd p unc t ua t e d w it h e nd le s s B ig L e b o w s k i r e f e r e nc e s. As I g la nc e o ut t he w indow at our lo n g line o f p a r k e d s c o o t e r s, I w o nd e r w ha t t he p ublic p e r c e p t io n a c tually is. Ar e they s y m b o l s o f f r e e d o m a nd m e na c e lik e m o t o r c yc le s ? Env ir o nm e nt a l s a v vy like hybrids? Or a r e t hey s im p ly a c ur io us nic he , inc o ns e q ue n t ia l t o t he ge ne r a l la nd sca pe of American t r a ns p o r t a t io n ic o no g r a p hy ? As I a s k my s e lf t his, a n o ld m a n o n a mobility scooter inc he s d o w n t he r o w o f r a lly b ik e s, a nd fo r a m inut e I ex p e c t him t o par k it in line. He d o e s n’ t , a n d b e s id e s, it ’ s t o o e a r ly o n a Sund ay fo r m e a ning f ul c o ntemplation. I look d o w n t he la ne a nd r e a li z e I ’ m up. F uc k i t d ud e , le t ’ s go b o w ling. T he Indian Summer R ally is T he 7 Hills Scooter Club’s year ly e vent that occur r ed this year on October 24th-26th. Based in Ric hmond, the 7 Hills Scooter Club is made up of di ver se member s w ho have a v ariety of vinta ge, moder n, custom, c lassic and r acer type scooter s. Go to www.7hillssc.com or www. myspace.com/pow hitetr ashsc for mor e infor mation.

Dont Eat Off The Grill!! By Chris Bopst If everybody in the civilized world had to pull a couple of shifts as a dishwasher in a restaurant, this world would be a better place to live in. I seriously doubt that we as a culture can evolve to a higher state of collective being until each and every one of us embraces the ar t of dishwashing. I can hear some of the prudish amongst you scuffing at the idea, but the way that someone washes dishes speaks volumes about one’s character. On the dish table actions speak louder than words. There are no frivolous flights of fancy when there is an endless stream of filth coming at you that requires your immediate physical attention. Some people feel that they are above the job of washing dishes as if it is work of peasants. These people are holding us all back in the collective unconscious. The idea that one is above doing anything is tragically flawed thinking. I don’t respect anyone in the business (or otherwise) that hasn’t served admirably on the dish table or knows what it means to be the anus of the operation. In a restaurant, you can lose wait staff, cooks and managers and still function. But if you lose your dishwasher, the whole food service operation will come to a screeching halt. I just wish somebody would pay me $25 an hour to do it. The good dishwashers are wor th their wait in gold. The bad ones aren’t around long enough for you to remem-

ber their names. Years ago, I worked with this skinhead kid from Florida who went by the name, “Froggy”, because of his harsh speaking voice. He was rail thin, and his milky white skin was covered in self-inflicted cigarette burns and jailhouse tattoos. He was a beast as a dishwasher though. He could handle the demands of an 80-seat restaurant with ease working the primitive three-sink cramped cleaning quar ters like a whirling dervish. One night after a par ticularly brutal night of service, we were hanging out after work and he was drenched in the night’s grime. As he was changing his shir t, I noticed on his back a par ticularly crude line rendering of a man in the act of giving fellatio to a well-endowed individual that took up the better par t of his left shoulder blade. When I asked him about it, he blur ted out, “Some asshole in jail did that because he thought it would be funny.” I assured him that it was funny as he looked at me like he wanted to punch me in the face. He disappeared a couple of weeks after that, and I never saw him again. A lot of the restaurant business is indentured servitude. The bar tabs and incidental living expenses borrowed from the company store by some employees ensure that every paycheck they get is spoken for before it is even written. With this type of arrangement, strange things are bound to happen. I was working with a cook one time that was not only a crack addict and an alcoholic, but he also was on dialysis. His bag of urine would sit right up on the line where I came to pick up food. As was usually the case with Craig, he was halfway through his second 40 oz. that he kept hidden in the trashcan and thought nobody knew about when I came to work. I noticed he was looking a little more flush than usual when I arrived, but the steady pace of business kept my attention on taking orders and filling drinks. About an hour or so into the rush, Craig star ts complaining to me as I pick up my orders that he isn’t feeling well. I figured that he was just star ting to get drunk enough to not want to work anymore. As I’m getting ready to step back out into the dinning room, I see Craig suddenly hit the floor. I turn just in time to see his full dialysis bag sail from it’s perch on the pickup line onto the searing hot grill smothered with grease and meat. Before the dishwasher and I could race around the line to help Craig, the plastic bag exploded with a sickly hiss filling the air almost instantly

with a caustic mixture of beef, plastic and piss. It is a smell I wish I could forget. I helped pull Craig away from the fouled grill that was now spitting scolding hot urine onto everything within a fourfoot range of the appliance. As we waited for the medics to arrive, he asked me to not tell our boss that he had been drinking. “He’ll fire me, Chris. Just tell him I was sick,” he implored as he was carried out into the dinning room on a stretcher. Within 20 minutes we were back in business with a new cook, though I encouraged people to not eat anything cooked on the grill for the rest of the night. The cook that replaced Craig had a special skill. He could suck his own dick. It seemed all he had to do was to open his mouth and lean over ever so slightly, and he would have a mouthful of his own manhood. It was amazing. He made John Holmes look like a eunuch. Tom would put on little shows in the kitchen as word spread of his abilities. He would always say, “I wash my hands before and after performance,” to quell any watchers sanitary concerns about his cleanliness. After the show, he would zip up and get back to cooking. And I guess that’s why I never became a cook. I realized early in the game that cooks actually have to work. They can never get a day off and at times they can carry the burden of justifiably hating everyone they work with. Everybody is stupid to a cook. So about 20 odd years ago I star ted waiting tables. It was the best par t-time job available.

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Art Direction Casey Longyear | Photography Hassan Pitts | Stylist Casey Longyear | Model Aeneas Zhou | Hair Stylist Mario Gross @ Salon 501 C lot hes p rovi d e d b y N eed S upply C o. and H eidi Story, . 79